


Lost to the Titan

by MidnightGuineaPigs



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Tragedy, aot - Freeform, memoryloss, titanEren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 22:00:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 30,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5886937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightGuineaPigs/pseuds/MidnightGuineaPigs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when Eren loses his memories?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Eren!" Armin screamed, stuck in place as he watched his friend reach out to him.

"We can't die here can we, Armin? You were the one who told me about it. That's why I want to go outside..." Eren choked out, Eren's arm extended out between the Titans teeth.

Tears streamed down Armin's face. "Eren! Hurry u-" Armin launched forward in a desperate attempt to free Eren from the Titans gaping maw. Eren's eyes widened just before teeth came clamping down on his arm.

A large gust of wind hit Armin and he stumbled back, tears streaming from his eyes. The bearded giant stared at Armin with a grin, but turned and walked away; leaving him to wallow in agony for his lost friend. Armin's tormented screams filled the air, his arm still reaching out for his companion. Eren was gone. Armin collapsed into the rubble, hugging himself. Armin sobbed and sobbed, choking on every single one as he attempted to call out to Eren.

"E-Eren…" he said, curling into a ball. Not paying any attention to the flying figures that were approaching him nor the approaching titan.

"Armin!"

He froze.

_Mikasa._

Armin looked up and saw Mikasa flying towards him. Connie, Krista, and Ymir following close behind. Just as the titan became frighteningly close Mikasa scooped him up and flew off to join the rest of the group. Mikasa asked about Eren, but instead of replying Armin buried his face in her hair and cried. She had a very bad feeling about this.

Mikasa landed in front of the rest of the group who were talking amongst themselves in whispers. They all turned toward Armin, wondering where Eren had gone and if the rest of unit survived.

Armin was gently set down on the tiles, Mikasa begged him to look up at her so she could see if he was okay, but he began talking instead.

"I'm sorry Mikasa. I couldn't do anything. I'm so sorry." Armin spoke in hushed tones. "Thomas Wagner, Nic Tius, Mylius Zeramuski, Mina Caroline, they all died Mikasa." His voice was crippled. Mikasa stiffened and shook Armin.

"Where's Eren?" He wouldn't answer. "Armin! Where's Eren?!" Armin flinched and tears began to flow once more. "Armin!" A loud smack could be heard as Mikasa's hand connected with Armin's cheek; snapping his head to the left. Several of the spectators stiffened, uncomfortable with the current situation.

"He's dead Mikasa…" Armin whispered lowering his head.

"Armin. He can't be…" Mikasa didn't believe it for a second, her strong little warrior couldn't possibly be dead. "He's not de-"

"Eren's dead! Don't tell me that I didn't see him die Mikasa!" Armin shouted, already knowing where this was going.

"No way…" Sasha whispered. Everyone froze at Amin's outburst, only a select few managing a straight face. Eren's dead?

Mikasa knew that his words were true and tears built up in her eyes; threatening to spill over, but they did not. "Come on Armin... " Mikasa took his hand and lifted him to his feet. "We have to go."

"How can you say that after Eren died?! We loved him… and he went off and died…"

Mikasa grabbed his face and made him look at her now tear stained face. "We can do this." She wiped away her shame. "For Eren."

"I don't have enough gas to climb the walls Mikasa."

"Neither do we… but we can figure it out. Okay Armin?" She said.

"Okay… for Eren."

**Meanwhile:**

The bearded giant lumbered through the town, its menacing smile still stretched across its face. The titan crushed everything in its path, humans were reduced to piles of gore. It was currently heading towards the big hole in the wall, intelligent enough to know that it was time to depart. Its destination was the forest of giant trees.

The beast moved quickly, unaware of the war brewing in his stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -It is a pretty crap chapter, I'm sorry. It's just been sitting on my computer for a while and I couldn't find a way to make it better. I'll try to make the next one better. Hope you had just as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Thanx! If you have any questions about the plot or whatever, message me.


	2. Chapter 2

A gentle rocking roused Eren out of his stupor, his eyes slowly opened to reveal chunks of bodies strewn about a crimson lake. At first Eren was confused.

What's going on?

He hadn't fully awoken to his terrible predicament. Memories flashed in his mind and he attempted to stand, but soon realized that there was no bottom to this horrible place. He had only been floating there when he had awoken. So instead of standing he kicked out his legs to keep him afloat. He looked around once more and took in the horror that this place had to offer. Eren only recognized a few of his fellow soldiers floating atop of the acid like substance, the rest were merely forgotten.

The boys face twisted into one of dismay. He screamed. And only then did he feel the soft trickle of blood cascading down his forehead and cheeks leaving behind a thick scarlet trail.

Eren's mind raced, trying to remember how he had gotten eaten. He didn't remember how he ended up in the titan's mouth, but he did remember landing painfully on a roof after having gotten attacked by a titan and losing his leg. Eren tried so hard to remember, but came up with nothing. Now that he thought about it, there were a lot of things he couldn't remember. Bits and pieces of his memory were left empty, without a trace of where the pieces had gone. Eren began to panic. Where had his memories gone? They were all slowly disappearing.

Armin. He remembered the name, but not the face or personality behind it. Mikasa. The same problem occured with that name. Several other names came to mind, but his mind was blank. He hardly remembered himself. The only thing he could wrap his mind around was the titans.

The lake began to swish around the fleshy chamber and Eren moved with it. His body didn't stand a chance against all of the blood and gore that pushed at him. Soon he was overpowered by everything and he went under. Eren's eyes remained open and he saw bodies rush past him and he began to wonder why the titan was moving around so much, but before he could give it a second thought a body smashed into him; knocking the air from his lungs. He automatically opened up his mouth in an attempt to get air in when his head surfaced, but he was pulled back under too quickly and let too much water in. Eren was choking.

His arm began moving on its own, bending at an odd angle. His armed snapped and blood flooded out.

An orangish yellow lightning strike struck the titan and the electric current flowed into Eren. His body began morphing and taking on more muscle and skin. What used to be Eren's stump of an arm reached up and out of the titans mouth. He split the titan down the middle. What stood in its wake was a 15 meter high titan with slick obsidian hair and a smile that stretched to its ears. It had no lips and a well muscled body. His vibrant green and blue eyes staring in disgust at what had previously imprisoned him.

A figure could be seen flying from the phenomenon. Levi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I know I updated this twice today, but this is to make up for the last chapter. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanx!


	3. Chapter 3

**Meanwhile:**

Mikasa and Armin laid together on the stone wall, not paying any mind to the chaos around them. The titans had breached the Trost District and were reeking havoc, but Armin and Mikasa were spacing out. They didn't cry and they didn't shout, they just laid and stared at the baby blue sky. Every once in awhile one would reach out their hand and place it on the others. They missed Eren already.

"Captain Levi!" someone shouted nearby, obviously surprised by the Commanders sudden appearance. "I thought you and your squad weren't coming back for another day or two?"

"Well I'm here now, tell me what's going on and don't leave out any details." Levi replied.

Armin and Mikasa sat up, gazing at their Commander with glazed over looks in their eyes. They were surprised as well, but didn't have enough emotion left to show it. Levi caught the sudden movement in the corner of his eye and looked over; their careless demeanor enraging him. He stomped over and grabbed Armin by his shirt, before he could wrench him to his feet Mikasa lashed out at him. Breaking his hold on Armin and pushing him away; she continued no further out of the little respect she had for him.

"Don't touch him." She practically seethed, standing protectively in front of Armin who seemed a little surprised by her outburst. Mikasa couldn't afford to lose the only family she had left and she couldn't see him hurt either.

Levi gathered himself, his face contorted into rage. However, he didn't have time to counter because she had taken Armin and jumped the wall, soaring into the panicking crowd of people. Levi looked down and watched her go. He turned towards Jean and asked what her problem was.

"It's Eren, sir." Jean looked uncomfortable and pained.

"What about him?" Levi didn't like where this was going.

"Sir, h-he's dead."

Levi's small frame visibly stiffened. "H-How?"

"Um... Armin said that he was eaten by a titan. He didn't say much more than that."

He tried to recompose himself, "Well, we lose soldiers everyday. This is no different. Explain the situation." he said in a careless manner, causing Jean to grimace. He knew that Eren wasn't just anybody.

"Trost was breached, sir. The colossal titan that infiltrated the Shiganshina District was the cause. He disappeared soon after. The armoured titan has yet to be seen. Troops were sent out to counter attack, several have died; the scouts that were left here assisted. Eren Jaeger being the only casualty." Jean tried his best to relay the information without seeming affected by Eren's death.

"What is the current form of action?"

"We do not know, sir. No one has been informed of what to do. The higher ups haven't been seen yet. You're the only one so far, although Erwin in still back at the mansion. We've only accomplished refilling our gas tanks and climbing the walls."

"Thank you. Get everyone behind the walls to calm the citizens, I'll watch for the armoured titan. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Jean said. With the new information Jean took off along the wall, informing everyone of the new orders that were given. Although some tried not to listen due to Levi being the one enforcing them, but Jean got them moving.

Levi sighed and looked down below at all of the carnage. Humanity's in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Ello! I'll clear some things up. Not gonna lie, I messed up a bit. But I fixed it. So, Levi's squad left the walls on their own little private expedition and left behind all of the other scouts. K? Make a little more sense now? I hope so. I apologize. I hope you had just as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Thanx!


	4. Chapter 4

Eren's titan body moved quickly through the forest, taking down every titan in sight as it went. It felt free to do as it pleased.

A titan approached from Eren's right and he swung his fist at the side of its head, completely knocking its head from its shoulders. Blood rained down on Eren, creating a tingling sensation on his skin. He loved it, for it was his blood lust. It felt unbelievably good on his skin.

_I'll kill them all. Every single one of them._

The Eren that Mikasa and Armin knew was gone. He had lost his memories and would never get them back. He was trapped in his titan body, he didn't know how to get out, but due to his bloodlust he didn't seem to mind. Eren wasn't even aware of the small body he possessed. As far as he was concerned, he was just born…

**1 Year Later**

It had been exactly one year since they lost Eren. Today was the anniversary of his death and everyone was nervous. They were all waiting for Mikasa and Armin to come down for breakfast. Normally they wouldn't do this, but today they were going out for an expedition; Levi had some things to say before they headed out. They had scheduled it a while back and didn't realize that it was today. Mikasa of course was a little bit upset and lashed out at a few of them, but Armin had calmed her down the best he could.

The sound of footsteps came down the hall, alerting everyone to their presence. Although it only sounded like one pair of footsteps, they all knew that it was two people. Armin didn't attempt to shield his presence from everyone like Mikasa did. Soon they rounded the corner, both Armin and Mikasa looked griefed. However, that changed when they saw their team mates sitting around the table. Armin's features broke out into a soft smile and Mikasa's into a scowl. Walking over to the table, they could feel all of their eyes burning into them. They took their seats next to Krista and dug into their food that Krista had been kind enough to set out for them.

"Now that everyone's here, I'd like to discuss a few things." Levi spoke up. Mikasa growled under her breath, spreading tension throughout the room. But he continued, "You have to get your gear around and meet out front after breakfast. Don't do anything stupid out there, you all know the plan. We're just out there to look for the 15 meter, perhaps catch it." Levi had only recently revealed what he saw one year ago today. The 15 meter that had somehow come out of another titan. Hanji of course was all over the idea of capturing him; she had already theorized several ideas. Including the reproduction theory.

They didn't know if it was still out there or not, but they were given permission to look for the fascinating creature.

Levi continued on with giving directions, completely skipping over the main topic of the day.

Mikasa had enough and slammed her hand down on the table, glaring fiercely at the Commander. "Would you just shut up already? We already know about the expedition. Get to what you really want to say… about Eren…" her voiced trailed off as tears built in her lifeless eyes. Mikasa lowered her head. "Just get on with it…"

Levi knew she would say something; he was purposely avoiding the subject, but he knew that he had to comply. "We will visit his grave after everything is in order… excuse me." He got up from the table and left the room, preoccupying himself with the chores so that he didn't have to think about the painful loss.

**Later**

The steady pounding of the horse's hooves against the ground soothed Armin as they travelled across the deadly plains. He gazed at the close approaching trees. They were ginormous, their broad trunks serving as the perfect cover for any titan.

**Eren POV**

Eren sprinted through the forest, where he had been residing ever since his transformation. He was looking for titans, but to no avail. The 15 meter roared out in frustration, he hadn't been able to find anything to eat in days. The titan population in the surrounding area dwindled considerably ever since Eren's arrival. He had either eaten or killed most of the titan in the forest. Eren hoped that the humans would come out of their hiding place soon, he was beginning to get frustrated with them. How could they survive in there for so long?

**Mikasa's POV**

Mikasa watched Armin closely out of the corner of her eye. She was worried about him, he had been the only one to see Eren die and she worried that seeing a titan might break him. The blank look in his eyes tormented her.

Mikasa guided her horse closer to the boy.

"Armin." she said, carefully reaching out her hand and touching his shoulder. "Are y-"

The ground began to shake slightly. A titan was getting closer. Mikasa recognized the sound of feet thumping against the ground, her eyes narrowed. Everyone stopped their horses, watching as a dark form moved through the trees, right for them. The group looked to Levi for guidance, he was the only one who knew what their titan looked like. The shaking of the ground grew more intense as the titan got closer and finally it burst from the trees.

He was magnificent. The titan's body was closer to a humans than any other titan Mikasa had ever seen. He was about 15 meters and had black hair that reached past its shoulders. His lipless mouth formed a gruesome smile and his long hooked nose hung below his vibrant green and blue eyes. His eyes...

"Eren." Mikasa whispered.

His eyes looked just like Eren's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Any comments on my work will be both helpful and welcome. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanx!


	5. Chapter 5

Hunger licked at his insides as he stared at the humans. He was so hungry and they had presented themselves right in front of him like food on a platter. He could eat them one by one, he could eat them with titan, he could eat them all at once. His eyes widened at the endless possibilities, his teeth soon dripping with saliva.

"Be ready."

Eren's large pointed ears twitched at the somewhat familiar voice. His gaze focused on a particularly small human, his appearance wasn't at all like the others. He bore dark circles under his narrow grey eyes and a smaller stature compared to the other males. It was amazing how Eren could pick out the different features on such small creatures. Eren's watchful eye must have made him uncomfortable because he shifted slightly, but still kept eye contact.

"Get him."

The small humans words sent a shiver down his spine. Eren was frightened, how long had he been standing there? Why hadn't he attacked immediately?

The humans immediately took action and shot him with little needles, strings were attached to them. This confused Eren greatly. Did they really think that they could hurt him with such things? He brushed them off and noticed that some of the little people were flying. Eren watched them soar gracefully through the sky, but took action when he noticed their threatening intentions. Eren lazily grabbed for the little strings that seemed to support them and he lifted the squirming food to his mouth. His grip on the cords loosening slightly as he prepared to drop them into his gaping maw, but a sharp pain on the nape of his neck alerted him to the presence behind him. The pain was intense and it agitated him to the core, Eren was mad because he completely forgot to protect himself.

"Looks like he's just as stupid as the others." Eren's chest rumbled as he growled, shaking the ground as he did so. How dare they compare him to the rest?!

Eren's sharp eyes found what the human were attaching themselves to. The trees, they were just barely close enough to the trees to where they could use them as leverage. He pivoted and slammed his fist into a nearby tree, knocking it down. He had clipped the wings of some of the nearby pests. Eren continued on this path of destruction; making sure to guard his nape. He continued until there weren't any flying humans anymore, they had all retreated to the ground. Afraid of being crushed if they tried to attach to the trees again. Eren hesitated when he moved for them, a part of him wanted to just leave. They were too much trouble and he could just travel farther out for a meal; that's what he told himself anyways. So Eren backed away and began running the opposite way. However, when he entered the trees he could hear the air stirring behind him. They were following.


	6. Chapter 6

**-Attention! All peeps! I should give you guys a name. Sorry, my own thoughts are leaking into this. Anyways, ignore what I just said. I want to dedicate this chapter to someone aka my editor, Red. This was my first edited chapter and I really appreciated the extra help. Enjoy!**

Large feet slammed into the ground, tearing up the turf when they picked up. The owner of said feet was fleeing from what seemed to be a small fighting force made up of thirteen soldiers. Each man or woman had equipment attached to their hips that let them fly through the air like birds, they all looked similar to one another in their uniform green cloaks. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them from far away, but they all had their own individual style, if you could get close.

Take the leader for example, he had a scarf-like fabric wrapped around his neck that came down in a ruffle at his chest. His face stood out from the others, dark circles rested under his pale gray eyes that held a certain authority to them. His straight black hair was styled into an undercut and a look of annoyance adorned his face.

Four other people were flying close behind him, looks of both admiration and determination were set upon their faces.

The one that stood out the most was the girl with fiery red hair flowing freely behind her. The woman's face was soft and held a motherly kindness. The others seemed easily forgettable, but they weren't. The man with a similar style to their leader had a need to be just like his Commander and was a very self confident, outspoken individual. The blonde haired soldier with a part down the middle and a bun folded at the back was a responsible and firm second in command with a strong sense of duty. He did not talk much, but when he did, he talked in a straightforward manner. The last man had a slightly darker skin tone than the rest. He had a short crop of brown hair kept to a point on the back of his head. Encountering titans every day had significantly refined his personality; he had the ability to suspect the worst out of any situation and was the most reasonable one of the group.

All five of the soldiers combined could easily take down a significant amount of titans when working together, including the deviant in front of them if they wanted to, but that was not what their Captain requested.

The behemoth running in front of the group was a very dangerous creature. Even the beast himself didn't quite grasp how dangerous he was. Sure he had taken down many titans in his reign, but he had always thought them to be pitiful. The humans he encountered had been a challenge for him, he gave up so easily that it was still confusing to him. If he had just given it his all then it would have been a success; his need for blood would have been satisfied. These thoughts ran through his head as he ran at an incredible speed, but the humans were still too close for comfort. He didn't understand why they wouldn't just leave him alone, why did they have to chase him? Agitation was clear as day in his features. He was tired of playing tag.

The titan abruptly stopped and turned on his heel, using the force of his movements to propel his hand forward. His giant hand completely missed the five soldiers he was originally aiming for, instead wrapping around a lone body who hadn't had the chance to flee.

Everyone perched on trees and stared in shock at the sudden movement. Who had he gotten? The body had been turned into a nauseating mixture of broken bones, blood, and a soft mass that could only be his skin and innards combined.

"Where's Marco?!" A young boy shouted from his perch. His long face twisted into terror. _Where was Marco?_


	7. Chapter 7

**-So a summary of what has happened so far has been requested by EVIEFINNIGAN and I am here to do it! It's not going to be great, not gonna lie. Here we go! We started with Eren telling stories to his crew/buddies/friends, but everything went wrong when he was eaten alive by a titan. Armin witnessed the tragedy and went on to tell Mikasa and the whole group about it. They were hit hard by Eren's departure. The titan that had eaten Eren left the walls in favor for going back to the forest of giant trees where Levi saw what we know to be Eren coming out of said titan in the forest. Eren lost his memories. Levi and his squad came back from their small expedition to find the walls in disarray. Mikasa became very protective of Armin since he was the only one she had left. One year later they went on an expedition to find Eren and bring him back because they know he is special. Eren is bloodthirsty and is looking for food when he runs into the scouts. They get into a small fight and Eren can't think or do anything quite right because somewhere in the back of his head someone is telling him not to hurt them. He turns and runs, but is soon followed into the forest. Eren becomes agitated by them following him and tries to kill someone from Levi's squad, but misses and gets Marco instead crushing him into mush. Jean is devastated... I almost told you more than you needed to know. That was close. And that was a REALLY long summary, sorry if I left something out, but you guys get the gist of it. Enjoy!**

Eren flicked the chunky mess that used to be Marco from his fingers; it splattered against the trees and soil, painting them a bloody red. He then turned and ran, hoping that they would have gotten the hint.

"MARCO!" Jean screeched, jumping from the tree and flying after the monster that had killed his friend.

"Jean, no!" Armin got ready to spring after him, but was pulled back by his collar.

"Don't be stupid Armin," Mikasa whispered, pulling him back onto their branch. Armin submitted to her, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get away from her grasp.

Jean went after the beast alone, no one else dared to risk their lives and others simply didn't care. Except for Captain Levi.

"Levi don't." Petra grabbed him by his sleeve. "If we lose you than humanity will lose all hope."

"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do. I order you, not the other way around." Levi snatched his arm away and went after Jean. Weaving through the trees in a graceful manner, he was already at Jean's side in a matter of seconds. "Jean, you're going to get yourself killed if you continue."

Tears flooded Jean's eyes, "But he killed Marco," he sputtered. They were nearing the titan.

"Don't be stupid, brat; you know he wouldn't want you risking your life like this." Levi tried reasoning with him and it seemed to have worked.

Jean faltered, "Alright…"

Levi and Jean looped around a tree to go back, but a titan swiftly stepped out from behind the same tree and grabbed their cords. She threw them back to their comrades, successfully breaking a few bones and leaving them gasping for breath. Their equipment had been wrenched off their bodies, but they didn't fall far before Eld and Oluo caught them.

"Get everyone around, we need to discuss plans," Captain Levi ordered whoever had caught him. "And get me some spare clothes, you're filthy."

**Eren POV**

She was beautiful; at least Eren seemed to think so. He had been running away and he was shocked when the whizzing from the humans machines started up again, but they stopped all of a sudden. He turned around and found a lovely female titan throwing a pair of humans. Her short golden hair had captivated him along with her big blue eyes. Her lean, fit body held no skin, but had visible muscle definition and bone. Eren had fallen in love at first sight; until he saw her fist swinging towards his face. The love didn't last long after that.

Eren dogged to the left and grabbed her arm, swinging the titan into a nearby tree. He roared down at her and went to kick her, but the female titan's boney hand wrapped around his leg and broke the bottom portion of his leg away from his body. Eren slumped to the ground and tried desperately to rise once more. His anger rose greatly as she continued to mutilate his body; trying to make him weak, but this just made him angrier. His body heat rose, thick clouds of steam billowing from his mouth and nostrils.

He had enough of her insolence! Eren's anger powered his body and he twisted his head around, biting her leg off in return. Panic took over her features as she fell; Eren crawled to her side and bit into her stomach. He tore out all of her precious organs and let them slide down his throat, drinking her blood to soothe his terrible thirst. She screeched and screeched as if she could feel pain, but nothing was there besides sadness. She was calling for the titans.


	8. Chapter 8

The sound of thousands of feet pounding against the ground thundered through the forest, alerting the soldiers but not the feasting monster. He continued to devour the delicious skinless titan, he was now chomping down on her thigh after having finished her stomach. Eren's eyes glowed an electrifying green as he dove deeper into bloodlust. A deep purr rumbled in his chest as he stood up with both a full stomach and a regenerated leg. He stared at the female titan who was half eaten and trying to regenerate. Her face held pure concentration and to Eren's surprise, another screech left her lips. _What is she screeching about?_

That's when he saw it, the herd of Titans heading straight for him and the female. The corners of Eren's mouth twisted up into an odd smile. _So that's what she was bitching about._ He stepped past her and ran to them, kicking the small ones and tackling the taller ones. He was unaware of the large amount of them passing him by, but some of the more foolish ones stayed to fight. Eren bit into the nape of a fellow fifteen meter and sunk his foot into his skull. Giggling to himself as he felt small pieces of his brain in-between his toes. He looked back to find that the titans had eaten the girl and some had wandered back to him. Eren dove into the group, roaring at them whenever they would bite him. He was lost in his bloodlust and wasn't paying attention to his well being, he was slowly being eaten away by the titans.

The back of Eren's neck was exposed and soon it was bitten by a smaller titan that had managed to crawl up his body.

**Mikasa's POV**

Mikasa watched as the deviant they had been tracking got itself stuck in the middle of the titans. She examined its movements and decided that it was acting quite carelessly. Steam was rising from his wounds and coating the sky with a thick mist. Mikasa wasn't surprised that they had resorted to cannibalism, she had expected that from such low-life creatures. This had stunned everyone else however, but Levi looked normal as ever. Mikasa continued to watch and caught wind of a small titan making its way up to his nape. She stood up at this point, slightly alarmed by tiny creature. Mikasa couldn't let him die, their mission was to capture him. Levi must have felt the same way because he was rising from his crouching position as well.

There both took flight at the same time, but they weren't going to make it. The titan opened his mouth, but slipped when it was taking a bite and only tore a layer of skin away. The fifteen meter went limp, but was propped up by the titans pressing up against him. When Mikasa looked back at the nape she saw a boy's upper body peeking out from it. _Eren._

"EREN!" She screamed, propelling herself forward at a faster speed. Mikasa flew over the impending horde of titans and into the little space that Eren had been residing in, Levi came seconds later. He slashed at the tendons and nerves attached to him, only caring about getting him out at the moment. The titan's body was decaying quickly.

"You carry him," he said. "Go."

Mikasa took off with Eren draped over her shoulder. She looked down at him. He was unconscious and limp.

"Eren… what happened to you?"


	9. Chapter 9

_Water surrounded Eren, caressing him with its gentle touch._

" _Eren." Came a familiar voice._

" _Eren." Armin._

_Eren's eyes cracked open. Where am I? He noted his surroundings and propelled himself forward with his arms and legs. He laughed with delight, it felt like swimming through air. Eren played around for a while longer before it hit him. Sadness._

_His smile faded and he looked around once more. Something's wrong. A deep sorrow ached in his chest and tears slowly made their way down his cheeks._

" _Armin?" His voice echoed through the watery plain. "Mikasa?" Eren's voice cracked as he said her name._

" _What are you doing Eren?" Mikasa's voice travelled through the water. Eren looked up and saw her some distance away._

" _Mikasa!" He yelled with joy. Swimming towards her in a frantic manner; feeling like he had to get there fast or she would disappear._

" _We love you Eren." Armin appeared beside Mikasa, they were holding hands._

" _Armin?" Eren felt like he was getting nowhere in his efforts to get to them and panic began to fill his voice._

" _Remember that we love you Eren. We always will." Mikasa sounded sad and Eren smiled anxiously._

" _What do you mean? You sound like you're going somewhere. I love you too." He tried to swim faster, but an invisible force was keeping him at bay; it felt like they were getting farther away. "Mikasa? Armin? Where are you going?"_

_They frowned and then smiled for him. "You'll see us later Eren." Mikasa said. "Yeah, we won't be gone long." Armin chimed in, tears flowing from their eyes. "Bye Eren." They said at the same time, waving simultaneously. They began fading._

" _No! Wait! I don't want you to leave!" He reached out desperately. "I love you! Please stay!" Eren shouted, but they were already gone…_

"I will not let you put him behind bars like that! He's just as human as any of us!"

"I'll kill you before I let you touch him."

"He belongs down there, he's a titan!"

"Don't you move another inch Eld."

"Stand down."

"He's endangering your life Levi!"

Eren groaned, ending the conversation and causing alarm.

"He's awake! We have to kill him now before he does anything."

"I said stand down."

"Eren?" Both Mikasa and Armin were at his side in seconds. Mikasa stroked his hair and Armin grabbed his hand, but Eren growled instinctively. His vibrant green eyes opened slowly and took in his surrounding as well as the people in the room. He jumped from the bed and made a dash towards the door, but was stopped with a kick to the back of the leg and a foot on his chest.

"Where do you think you're going?" Levi snapped at him, almost offended at his immediate reaction.

Eren snarled, clearly misinterpreting his intentions.

"Hange!" Levi shouted.

The crazy titan enthusiast burst into the room, right on cue. "What's wrong with him?"

She immediately set to work with examining the rabid boy. "Well that could be many things Levi, many things." She prodding the fighting, reluctant Eren in several places. "But I can't tell just from simple examinations such as these. I'd need to run experiments." She got right up in Levi's face making him lean back from her horrid breath. "Can I Levi? Can I experiment on him? Please? Pretty please!" Her face lit up with a smile. her professional demeanor completely leaving her.

"I don't think that's necessary," he replied. "Get out of my face."

"Please Levi! I'm begging you!"

"You just need to figure out what's wrong! You don't need experiments!" he shouted, already agitated by her presence. He rubbed his temples, "Just do what I ask of you."

Hange groaned and ordered her assistant to hold Eren's arms down. "Eren, do you know who we are?" He growled in response, flailing under Moblit's grasp. "Interesting, very interesting. Doesn't seem capable of speech." She wrote on her clipboard and bent down to examine his eyes. "Pupils seem a bit enlarged," she whispered. "Can you say anything at all?" She questioned. Eren rolled his eyes and grumbled. Hange wrote down some more notes and held out her pointer finger just above his mouth; he snapped at her finger, but was unable to reach it. She stood up. "Well! It seems to me like he's just any ordinary titan, maybe a little smarter. He can't understand me that well, but he reacts to my voice at least."

"So what is it exactly?" Armin asked in a worried voice.

Hange tilted her head back and then looked forward. "It looks like he's been turned into a titan, but I'll need to do more research ."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Did you enjoy it? I hope so 'cause I like writing it. Have a nice day everyone! I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

When Hange diagnosed Eren's sickness, he had been relocated to the basement of the Scouting Legion's HQ, much to the displeasure of Mikasa and Armin. Eren has become somewhat domesticated, but he continued to lash out at visitors and wouldn't eat. Mikasa and Armin were the only ones who could even get close to Eren, but he didn't let them touch him, and he still growled under his breath as a warning. He hadn't been outside in a month because he refused to wear a leash and collar in order to do so. He received most of his sustenance from water. Levi had to force him to eat whenever he refused to, it seemed as if Eren feared Levi. Levi had been gone for a few days, so the boy/titan hadn't eaten, and now Levi descended the steps with food, a leash, and a collar in hand.

Hange slid up next to him as he walked; he didn't even look at her, "don't bother me Hange."

"Whatcha doin Levi?"

Levi groaned inwardly. "Going to get Eren, what's it to you?"

"Oh nothing, just wanted to know. I think taking him outside is a grand idea, and he could really use some

food."

"Are you going to tag along the whole time?" he asked. They approached the door.

"No, I'll leave it to you," she winked and pranced off.

Levi rolled his eyes and began his descent into the dark and filthy basement. He could hear growling and something banging against the bars.

"What did you do this time Jean?" Levi said accusingly.

"Nothing, I was just asking him questions."

Eren slammed into the bars again, snarling at Jean and reaching through the bars.

"About what?"

"It was just about Marco sir." Jean placed his fist over his heart, saluting his captain.

"You know he doesn't like talking about it," he seethed. Levi nearly strangled the boy for having made his task even more difficult.

"I just wanted to know w-why." He stuttered, his eyes growing moist.

"You're excused Kirstein. Go get some rest." Levi watched him go.

"Thanks Levi…"

Jean climbed the stairs and Levi turned to Eren.

"You're going to eat this Eren. Even if it's against your own will."

He opened the cage and Eren backed away, narrowing his eyes and growling in warning. Levi entered and closed the door.

"And you're coming outside with me."

He held up the collar. Levi made a quick dash towards Eren and shoved a potato in his mouth, plugging his nose so he couldn't breath.

"Eat it or suffocate," he said uncaringly.

Eren flailed under him and scratched his face.

"Eren! Stop!"

He stilled and slowly began eating. "That's what I thought. You better finish it."

He let go of him and reached for the collar, but Eren scurried away into a corner. "You're such an idiot Eren. Do you even realize that you backed yourself up into a corner?" Levi advanced towards him, leash and collar in hand.

"Let's get this over with."

And that was how both Eren and Levi ended up outside. Although, Levi did have a scratch cutting across his face and his clothes were ruffled and torn.

"Brat," Levi growled.

Eren tugged at his collar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Thank goodness I have an editor! It was pretty jumbly(if that's even a word). Anyways, you guys are great and my editor is great. That's all I wanted to say. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!


	11. Chapter 11

_What is he talking about?_ Eren had wondered this several times throughout his "training session" as "Levi" liked to call it. Apparently, "Levi" was the name of this nuisance that made him do things he didn't want to do. At least, that was what others called him.

"Did I tell you to stop?!" Levi shouted.

The palm of his hand smacked against the back of Eren's skull; Eren turned and growled.

"Don't growl at me, finish cleaning the windows already."

Eren and Levi were currently suspended from the mansion; Eren cleaning the windows as Levi yelled at him. It had taken a while to get Eren up there, seeing as he knew nothing about the flying machines, as Eren called them. In Eren's opinion, it wasn't very productive; Levi could at least help him.

"You're just as slow and terrible at cleaning as you were before! Go, move out of the way and let me do it. Go back down and watch the professional handle this."

_Professional?_ Before he could even move an inch Levi kicked him down, Eren felt the steady stream of air pass his lips and leave his lungs when he hit the ground.

"Don't move or I'll track you down and put your leash back on; you're lucky I even took it off!" he yelled down to Eren. "Lucky I won't kill you when I find you," he whispered, but Eren could still hear it.

"Hey Eren."

Eren looked to the side and noticed a short girl with pretty blonde hair and blue eyes. From what Eren had heard, her name was Krista.

"Come over here," she smiled kindly to him.

Eren didn't even hesitate; he got up and quietly made his way to where she was standing, but he kept his distance. Everyone thought he was a wild animal, but he could be civilized at times. Eren knew that he wasn't some mindless beast. He knew things, and he knew that he liked this girl. He remembered when she would come down and tell him stories; he growled at first, but he began to like her. She was the only one who talked to him like he was normal. All the others like Armin and Mikasa were gentle with him as if he was a child; he still liked them though.

"Hi, my name's Krista."

Eren nodded in return, already knowing that she knew his.

"Is Levi giving you a rough time?"

_Rough?_ Eren tilted his head.

"Oh, uhm. I mean a bad time."

Eren nodded.

"I'm sorry about h-"

"Krista! What are you doing?" The mean girl rounded the corner and as soon as she spotted Eren she shielded Krista.

"Why is he here?" she said.

"I was just talking to him," Krista replied nervously.

"You don't talk to him, and _you_ don't even look at her," she glared fiercely at Eren and he growled back, this girl was trouble.

"EREN!"

Eren stiffened, it was Levi. Eren made eye contact with Krista and she made little motions with her hands to go. So, he turned and went back to the angry little man.


	12. Chapter 12

"Where were you brat?" Levi bellowed. "I told you NOT to go anywhere and what do you do?! You go somewhere!" He shoved his finger in Eren's face, "Must I remind you that _I_ am in charge here. You can't run off whenever you damn well please; you know that _they_ will find you if you don't listen."

Eren knew he was talking about the men with horses on their clothing. Levi had warned him about them, they would kill him if they knew he was here.

_**Not if we climbed the walls Eren.**_ The voice was back again; Eren had been hearing a voice for the last few days. It gave false advice and always wanted him to do something Levi didn't want him to do.

Eren visibly stiffened.

_**Do it, you know you want to. We'll be free again.** _

_Shut up._

_**DO IT EREN. Or, better yet, kill them all.** _

"Eren! Are you even listening?"

Eren snapped out of it and nodded eagerly, wanting desperately to get away from the voice.

"Do you think you can do one thing for me?" Levi asked, hands on his hips.

He nodded again.

"See the stables over there?" He pointed at the wooden structure with the horses inside. "I want you to get one of the horses out. Just one, don't make a mess."

With his instructions fairly clear. Eren ran over to the "stables," he poked his head into the little side door and noticed a blonde girl peeking out from behind a stack of hay. Eren growled, he didn't recognize her. The girl jumped and switched her gaze over to Eren, her eyes widening slightly.

Eren growled again, trying to scare her away. He didn't like her scent; it reminded him of a titan. He had caught the scent of titans before, but she wasn't one of them.

His growl did little to scare her away, instead she walked towards him with a disinterested look in her eyes.

"Eren, listen. Come with me."

Her hand reached out to grab his arm, and he flinched away. Eren vaguely recognized her, but he wouldn't trust her.

"My name's Annie."

_Annie?_

_**Go with her,**_ the titan in Eren purred.

Annie pulled out a dirty and bloody red sack.

"If you're not going to come with me than take this." She held out a bag; it smelled delicious.

_**TAKE IT.**_ His nose twitched. _**TAKE IT.**_

Eren's hand quickly grabbed the bag, and he opened it to reveal a severed arm. His mouth watered instantly. Eren hadn't had human meat before, would it taste as good as titan meat? He looked up to find that the girl had gone.

_**Eat it Eren. You've never tried it before, I bet it's delicious.** _

_No. What if someone sees?_

_**No one's around. You could dig in right now and no one would know.** _

Eren's eyes glowed green. It didn't take much more than that to convince him.

_No one will know._

**Mikasa's POV**

_Where's Eren?_ Mikasa was wondering this as she stepped onto the lawn. She had gone down to the basement to see him, but he wasn't there.

"Ackerman!" Levi yelled from her right. She walked up and saluted him loosely. "Do me a favor and go see why that idiot Eren is taking so long." He pointed to the stables and flew up to another window that needed to be washed. Mikasa immediately took off, disregarding his insult towards Eren. She was going to get to see her brother!

"Eren!" She shouted, a smile stretching across her face but hidden by the red scarf.

She opened the door and peered in; she saw a hunched over figure and heard squelching noises.

"Eren?"

The figure stilled and turned towards her, the smile was instantly wiped from her face. It was Eren, the area around his mouth was smeared with a thick red liquid that Mikasa recognized as blood. His eyes glowed an eerie green and fixed on her hungrily.

Her pulse quickened in fear. "Er-"

Eren lunged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I don't think that this fanfiction will last much longer. I know, don't cry because then I'll cry too. I don't want it to end, but there has to be an ending somewhere. Thanks for reading my story. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing. Thanks! If you have any suggestions on a fanfic I could do next then let me know.


	13. Chapter 13

A blood curdling scream cut through the air, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. Soldiers from far and wide were jarred by its sudden loudness.

"EREN!"

Mikasa was the source of the scream and the thumping of feet against the lawn, signalizing the help that was coming. She was struggling under a murderous Eren. Blood dripped from his snapping jaws onto her face.

Mikasa couldn't find it in herself to hurt him; he didn't know what he was doing.

Another scream was ripped from her throat as his teeth closed around her arm, tearing her flesh away as if it was dead skin. Eren held the stolen skin to his mouth, paying no heed to the opening he had made for Mikasa's escape. Mikasa pushed him away from her; released from his body weight, she ran for the door, only to be tackled from behind. Her face collided with the door, splinters of wood embedding themselves into her flawless skin.

"Eren…" She whispered, eyelids fluttering closed.

The impact of of both Mikasa and Eren hitting the door caused it to break open. Mikasa lay unconscious and wounded under Eren; her arm spewing blood. When Levi saw this he kicked Eren off, but Eren caught himself and lunged at him; teeth bared. Levi was caught off guard and Eren slammed full force into him; he would have taken a chunk out of his arm if it wasn't for Krista and Ymir pulling Eren back.

"Eren, what's wrong?" Krista asked Eren who struggled and stared at her hungrily, Ymir holding him bear hug style from behind.

"Get him inside," Levi seethed, picking himself up from the ground.

Hearing this, Eren became even more vicious; he bent his legs, propelling both himself and Ymir forward and onto their backs. Since Ymir was still latched to him, he didn't take the impact. As soon as they crashed into the rough soil Ymir's hold loosened and Eren jumped to his feet; glaring at the surrounding soldiers, seemingly more civil than before.

" _ **Leave us alone."**_ He croaked, throat dry from a year without communication. His voice sounded eerily nothing like him, making the hairs on the back of everyone's neck stand on end.

He suddenly flattened his hands on his ears, a head splitting screech resonating from his mouth.

"Eren!" Armin ran to the now falling boy. Eren extended his arm toward him, eyes cracked open a sliver.

"Armin…" he said faintly.

He dropped almost softly to the ground, dust rising around him. Armin knelt by his side, gathering his head in his lap.

"What have we got here?" Everyone's head turned at the familiarly frightening voice, Nile Dok. "Heard a whole lot of commotion and decided I'd visit you. The military police at your service," he bowed mockingly. "So tell me, why is Eren Jaeger alive?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I copy and pasted all of these from another place where I post this story and I want you to let me know if I made any mistakes like repeated chapters or a missing chapter. I love comments about my work, so please comment. Sorry if you don't like it and sorry if I made a mistake. Lets hope I get the next chapter done soon.


	14. Chapter 14

"Eren, wake up. Please," Armin tried desperatley to wake Eren. "Eren please," he whispered, pain stabbing at his heart.

_Why am I so useless?_

He had been feeling useless ever since Eren came back because he couldn't help him; he couldn't even help Mikasa. Armin rarely talked to her, but she tried to talk to him. Since Eren was back he wanted her to pay attention to him, Eren needed her more than he needed her. Armin found himself regretting his decision most days, but when he saw Eren's helpless condition he was reassured. He could wait until Eren was back.

_Eren, I need you._

He hugged him close, burying his face in Eren's hair. This was the first time they had hugged since he came back.

"Armin?" Eren's voice came to him like a dream. He pulled back and stared at his friend, shocked, to say the least.

"Eren?" He couldn't believe it, he was back!

"What's going on?" His voice was faint and scratchy.

"You passed out. Do you remember anything?" he asked.

Armin was so enthralled with Eren that he forgot about the Military Police.

"No need to be hostile, just give him to me. We'll settle this in court," came the "evil" voice.

"No, get the judge for all I care, but until then we will keep him. Get them inside."

Armin looked up at the Captain just as he pointed to both Eren and Mikasa.

"Ymir, can you handle getting Mikasa for me?"

Ymir nodded and set off to work, a slight grimace touching her lips.

"Eren, can you stand?"

"I-I think so," he said, getting slowly to his feet with Armin at his side, only to fall back into him.

"You okay?"

"Yes…" Eren leaned against Armin, and draped his arm across his shoulders.

"Come on guys." He gestured to the 104th and lead the way into the house; the sound of arguing being left behind.

"Armin?" Eren whispered.

"Yes?"

"Who are these people?" A small growl slithered past his lips; his titan demeanor making an appearance.

"You don't remember?" Armin stilled, staring wide-eyed at his best friend.

"I know you and I know their names, but I don't _know_ them…" he trailed off almost sleepily.

Then Eren went limp, his head lolling back and forth.

" _ **I don't know them Armin, I have a feeling that they want to hurt us. Can we run away together, just like we planned?"**_ He turned towards Armin, a drunken smile playing at his lips.

" _ **I know you want to."**_

Eren's fingertip brushed his chin and Armin grabbed his hand abruptly.

"What's wrong? You're not yourself."

" _ **Nothing, what makes you say that Arrrrmmiin. I looove you and Eren does too."**_ His face contorted into rage as soon as Eren's name touched his tongue and his words were slurred.

Armin gazed at him as if he were a puzzle. "Don't lie."

Eren gasped, " _ **I would never lie to you, you're my friend. We're going to travel the world together,"**_ he giggled.

Armin rushed inside, noticing that he and Eren had been left behind. He set Eren down next to Mikasa who was just beginning to wake.

"Eren!" She shouted jumping to her feet, sword in hand. Mikasa was breathing heavily, and continued to do so before she saw Eren slumped against the wall.

"Thank god," she mumbled.

" _ **You're strange."**_

One moment Eren was lying there and the next he was on his feet and scanning Mikasa with his eyes.

She stared at him in shock, "He's talking. Do you remember me?"

" _ **Not at all, at least Eren doesn't."**_

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, hand tightening around the hilt of her sword.

" _ **No use in hiding it anyways I suppose,"**_ he muttered. " _ **Stupid Eren would give it away in no time… I mean that I am not Eren and I'm damn lucky that I'm not him. He's a little stuck at the moment."**_

The tip of Mikasa's blade was instantly at his throat.

"What do you mean stuck? Who are you?"

" _ **Woah, woah, calm down Mikasa. You wouldn't want to hurt Eren would you?"**_ He smirked as she lowered her sword. " _ **I know all about you, how you just love Eren so very much,"**_ he pranced around her, arms flying into the air. " _ **And you…"**_ He zoned in on Armin, " _ **you are a troublesome one, getting Eren to react to you like that. Of course it could have been anyone at the moment, but why you?"**_ Eren's body tugged at him, and looked closely at him. " _ **You're nothing special, not even strong. Absolutely useless. Remember, my knowledge on you comes from Eren. As far as I can tell, you are**_ _ **useless."**_

He turned away from the heart broken Armin and instead let his gaze dissect the room.

" _ **Nice place you've got here. If I understand correctly, this is headquarters."**_ His fingers brushed against the walls. " _ **Levi lives here with you, doesn't he? Awe, Eren really looks up to the guy. How cute is that?"**_

Eren's green and blue eyes turned upon them all.

" _ **Lets get to the point. I'll be staying here for a while, Eren's not ready to come out yet."**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Hey guys! I've been gone for a while and I apologize. I was experiencing hell in the writing world aka writers block decided to attack my brain. I want to ask you guys something. So you know how the titan in Eren's head has a bold and italicized text? Well, my editor says that it gives the impression that he is yelling and I think it's a possibility. I would have changed it right away, but It's already in previous chapters and I would have to go back and change it. Plus I want his voce to be different from the rest, I want it to be distinguishable from Eren's voice. So comment on this chapter and let me know what y'all think. PLEASE. I can't do this without you. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!


	15. Chapter 15

“WHAT?!” Outrage spread throughout the room, disagreement thick in the air.

“You can’t do that to Eren!”

“Who are you?!”

“Leave Eren alone!”

“Hold on guys, maybe he has a reason…” Krista’s small, soft voice wasn’t enough to overpower the others, and they continued to yell.

“Come on Krista. Let's go.” Ymir whispered in her ear, grabbing her arm.

Ymir tried to drag her away, but Krista broke away from her grip and ran to Eren. Stepping in front of him and throwing her arms up into the air.

“STOP!” she screamed, catching the attention of everyone.

Krista shrunk back slightly when their eyes focused in on her.

“Um… I just wanted to say that he might have a reason for being here…” her voice trailed off into the silence of the room.

**_“This one’s smart.”_ ** “Eren” placed his hand on her head, but removed it quickly, realizing what he had done.

**_“What I’m trying to say is that you should listen to her. Eren always thought she was smart.”_ ** He whispered the last part to himself.

Krista silently praised herself for her good work.

“Krista, Get back over here!” Ymir demanded, pointing at her feet as if Krista was a dog.

“Eren” huffed, somehow offended by her words.

**_“What’s your problem?”_ ** He held his chin for a moment, seeming to think about it. He soon held up his finger in triumph.

**_“Oh! I get it! You're her guardian, or at least you pretend like you are. Do you think she’s not safe around me?”_ ** “Eren” wrapped his arm around Krista’s waist, bringing her closer. **_“Am I that dangerous to you, Ymir?”_ ** he asked, pressing his fingertips to the embarrassed Krista’s chin, lifting it slightly. He nuzzled her neck and she squeaked in fear.

Ymir went rigid before she charged forward and ripped them apart, punching Eren square in the jaw. She grabbed Krista by the wrist and looked down at him.

“Touch her again and you're dead,” she threatened, dragging the stunned Krista from the room.

“Can’t say that you didn't deserve that.” Connie joked, laughing awkwardly as Eren got to his feet.

**_“She’s a feisty one.”_ ** “Eren” laughed and looked to Mikasa.

**_“How come you didn't stop her?”_ ** he asked.

“You deserved it.” She shrugged. “If she didn't punch you then I would have.”

**_“That's the Mikasa I know.”_ ** He smiled, but it wasn't genuine.

“You don't know me,” she said angrily, turning and leaving the room.

“What’s going on in here?” Levi asked, appearing at the front door, fellow scouts acting as his shadow.

**_“Levi!”_ ** “Eren” shouted crossing the room in a matter of seconds. **_“I’ve never seen you up close before! You're shorter than I’d imagined.”_ ** His insult was followed by a kick in the gut. **_“Stronger than I imagined though.”_ ** He winced and gave Levi a thumbs up.

“Get Hange for me,” he said, pointing directly at Connie; just as he made to search for her, Hange stepped from the shadows.

“I’m already here!” she shouted, too loud for Levi’s taste.

“Eren! How are you? I see you have developed the skill of talking since I last saw you and you are much less hostile.”

**_“Don't tempt me.”_ ** He winked, and they both laughed like they were old friends.

Levi scowled. “They're both crazy,” he whispered.

“What did you call me here for Levi?” Hange questioned suddenly.

“Something’s wrong with him again.”

“He seems pretty okay to me.” She frowned, wondering what he was thinking.

“Hange, be serious about this,” he said sternly, a headache already forming.

“Got it.” She turned to Eren, a serious expression on her face.

“Do you know who we are?”

**_“Yes and no,”_ ** he replied.

Hange whipped out a pen and paper.

“What do you mean?”

**_“I know about you from Eren, but I haven't personally met you.”_ **

“From Eren? What does that mean?”

**_“I’m not Eren, I’m just a part of Eren...”_ ** He paused in the middle of his sentence. **_“In a way.”_ **

Murmuring broke out throughout the room.

“What happened to Eren then?”

**_“He’s resting.”_ ** His tone turned deadly serious.

“Why did Eren change?”

**_“I invaded his brain.”_ **

“Why?”

**_“He would have died…”_ **

“From what?” Armin stepped in.

**_“Eren was swallowed by a titan and it moved around too much, nearly drowning Eren,”_ ** he replied, eyebrows scrunching in anger.

“So you turned him into a titan?” Levi said.

**_“Correct, it needed to be done. Unfortunately, in the process he lost his memories. I am the only one who remembers.”_ **

“Really??? Then I was wrong?!” Hange broke down and turned into a blubbering mess.

**_“Not necessarily, I heard what you said. You assumed that he had turned into a titan, but it wasn't really wrong.”_ ** Hange perked up at the news. **_“When he woke up the day you had captured him I was partly in control. I was wary of you and I didn't trust you, no matter how much Eren did, and I still don't. Those humans outside just proved my point, humans would use him if they found out. They would use me.”_ **

“Can't you transfer the memories into him or something?”

**_“It’s impossible, we are closed off to each other. I can't give him memories and I wouldn't,”_ ** he said.

“But why?” Armin asked.

_**“Enough questions, I need to sleep. Eren’s not fully resting due to me. I already know where his room is.”** _ He threw away all chances of further questioning when he left the room quickly and retired to his chambers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need comments!


	16. Chapter 16

“Eren” was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He placed his hand over his heart gently, afraid of breaking the body he possessed. The heart in his chest beat at a steady pace, calming him to a slight degree.

**_Is this how it feels to have a heart? To have feelings?_ **

“Eren” has been experiencing feelings for the humans. He had been with them, with Eren, for a long time. Although he never experienced any feelings for them, but he could feel it through Eren some days. The Titan would only watch in the background while they had their fun, this is what made him take control of Eren, partly. He wanted to have friends. However, he realized that it wouldn't become a reality, he had to protect Eren, he didn't have time to mess around.

He turned in his bed, closing his eyes.

**_Eren._ **

His last thoughts were of Eren when he dozed off.

**Next Day:**

“Nice of you to join us.”

“Eren” pranced down the stairs, jumping over the last few steps.

**_“I had a hard time waking up this morning.”_ **

When he made his way to the table a plate of food was shoved in his face by Mikasa.

“Do you even know how to work a human body?” she asked accusingly.

 **_“Kind of, but I don't need that. I don't need to e-”_ ** his sentence was cut off by a low rumbling in his midsection. **_“What the heck was that?!”_ ** He stared down in horror at his stomach.

“It's called being hungry, now eat,” she said, taking his hand and placing the plate on it. “And sit down, you're making everyone nervous.”

He took his spot at the table and gingerly picked at his food.

 **_“This looks disgusting, I don't even have any meat!”_ ** he complained.

Several people stiffened.

 **_“What?? It's not like I’m going to eat you.”_ ** He laughed, but no one laughed with him. **_“Come one guys, lighten up. Do I look like someone who would eat another person?”_ ** he leaned against Mikasa who tensed. He looks at her in astonishment. **_“You too Mikasa?”_ **

“Not my fault, you took a chunk out of my arm yesterday.” She pointed to her blood stained bandage.

 **_“Sorry about that, I went a little crazy. Let's change the subject! How are you Levi? I noticed your newly cleaned uniform, you look absolutely ravishing,”_ ** he said, making Petra giggle.

“Eren’s” head turned at the pleasant noise; he recognized the woman and went to sit with her, but Levi intercepted him, making him frown.

**_“No need to be possessive of your lady Levi, I’m not going to do anything risky.”_ **

Levi growled, but let him pass.

 **_“Hello, how are you?”_ ** Eren asked, plopping down in the seat next to her, well aware of the eyes burning into him.

“Fine.” Petra obviously wasn't expecting this, for her hands shook with fear. She told herself that she wasn't afraid because she really wanted to trust him, but thoughts of doubt formulated in her mind when it came to to “Eren”.

 **_“You don’t need to be so nervous Petra, Eren wouldn’t allow me to hurt you. He’s awake.”_ ** He smiled kindly. **_“He may not remember you, but he likes you.”_ ** He searched through Eren’s memories and found her. **_“You used to remind him of his mom… His mom. Hmm. I remember her, she’s that gentle women from before. Right Mikasa?”_ ** Everyone stared in shock at this new revelation, Eren never talked about his mom.

“Yes,” Mikasa muttered into her scarf.

**_“I’ve never met her, but she was nice. I guess she was my mom too. Petra? Will you be my mom?”_ **

Levi choked on his water and began coughing uncontrollably.

“Eren! That’s uncalled for!” He blurted.

“Eren” took Petra’s hand and pressed it against his cheek. **_“But she’s so kind Levi and I’ve never had a mom. What do you think Petra?”_ **

“Don’t answer that. You are 15 years old, not a child. You don't need a mom.”

 **_“You don't want to be my dad Levi?”_ ** he asked, Petra blushed and laughed at his question.

“Jaeger, you're testing my patience.”

**_“Oooo, Jaeger, I like that. Call me that from now on. Anyways, Petra, what do you say?”_ **

To Petra it seemed liked Eren's eyes grew larger and wetter, like a puppy when it's begging.

“Well…” she looked over Jaeger’s shoulder and made eye contact with Levi. ‘Please help me’ she mouthed, as soon as it registered in his brain he yanked Jaeger from his seat and dragged him by his pants to the door.

 **_“Nooooooo! Levi let me go!”_ ** he cried.

“You better behave, there are scouts out there and they don't need you bugging them. Understand? Good.”

Before Jaeger knew it he was tossed outside into the bright daylight.

**_“Woah, Eren would love this.”_ **

His moment with nature was cut off by several shadows blocking the sunlight.

 **_“I’m trying to enjoy the sunlight here, could y-”_ ** he stopped talking when he laid his eyes on a familiar human.

 **_“Commander Nile? And by the looks of it, someone very important. May I ask your name sir?”_ ** Eren gathered himself from the ground, brushing himself off. He then saluted the older man with a white beard, glasses, and shrunken eyes.

“Zackly, Darius Zackly. Nice to meet you.” Zackly’s demeanor screamed authority, you could see it in his eyes.

“This is _Eren Jaeger_ sir.” Nile said, hinting at his name.

 **_“Oh please, call me Jaeger. I forgot to ask you how you were doing Commander Nile. How’s life?”_ ** Jaeger took his hand in a steel grip, completely disregarding the usual salute and respect when saying his name.

“Good…” Nile glared at Jaeger as if he was acting suspicious.

“Are you feeling alright Jaeger?” he asked.

 **_“I am feeling just fine, great actually. So what brings you here? I see that you have half of your branch, what’s up with that?”_ ** He smiled at Nile, knowing full well why they were all here.

“We have come to get you, but by the looks of it that won't be happening today.” Zackly said, glaring at Nile for wasting his time.

“Sorry I was late Nile!” A familiar voice yelled from the sky just before Pixis landed in front of them all, wobbling a bit.

 **_“You must be Commander Pixis, nice to meet you sir.”_ ** Jaeger saluted him as well, a smile lighting up his face.

“What's your name?” Pixis said.

 **_“Eren Jaeger at your service.”_ ** his voice held a little finesse when saying it.

Pixis laughed and patted the boy on the back, “I like this one, are you telling me that we're going to take this charming fellow to jail? Out of all the stories Nile…” he shook his head in disapproval. “This one is far too ridiculous.”

**_“I'm taking it that you would like to see Commander Erwin and Captain Levi?”_ **

“Yes.” Nile chimed in, wary of how things were not working out in his favor. He glared at Jaeger when he wasn't looking, but as soon as he looked at him, “Eren” turned his head and smiled maliciously at him.

**_“Something wrong, Commander Nile?”_ **

“N-no, take us to them please.”

 **_“Alright, right this way everyone. Mind the carpet, Levi would be dreadfully sad if it was to be dirtied.”_ ** Jaeger led them into the house, glancing back every few seconds to keep up with their conversation.

**_“I don't currently know where Levi is, he will take you to Commander Erwin's office when he gets here. Hold on a moment… LEEEEVVVIIIIIII!!!!!! He’ll be down in just a second.”_ **

“Jaeger! What excuse could you possibly have for yelling like that?!”

Levi rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes even more, if possible.

 **_“We have guests.”_ ** He pointed to the mini army behind him.

“I see that, I’ll take you to Erwin.” He knew the drill. “Follow me.”

 **_“Can I come?”_ ** Jaeger asked excitedly.

“No, go back outside.”

Jaeger groaned and turned to leave, but a familiar scent stopped him.

**_“Annie?”_ **

The mini army and its leader had left, leaving the room bare except for both Jaeger and Annie.

“Hi Eren.”

 **_“What are you doing here?”_ ** Eren was wary of her, but Jaeger knew that she meant well. He tried to walk toward her, but Eren stopped him.

_Don’t you dare drag me into your temptations._

**_Eren, let me go._ **

He slowly lifted a leg and pushed his body forward, but he was interrupted by Eren.

_I know what you're thinking, but she is not here to just say hi. She wants to take us._

**_What's so bad about that?_ **

They were interrupted by the touch of a hand on their shoulder.

“He’s fighting with you isn't he?” she asked seriously.

Jaeger stared wide-eyed at her, she was so close.

 **_“Yes,”_ ** his voice quivered.

He lowered his leg back down to the ground.

“Do you want to come with me?” she asked, not the slightest change apparent on her face.

**_“He won't let me even if I wanted to.”_ **

“I’ll help you with that.”

 _Move away! Get away from her!_ Eren screamed inside his head.

**_It’s alright Ere-_ **

His thoughts were cut off by an intense pain in his stomach, where Annie’s knee made contact. He doubled over and fell to the ground.

“He can't stop you if you’re weak. Sorry,” she said, just before her foot met his face.

 ** _I told you to move away…_ ** Eren said, drifting off into the darkness of his mind.


	17. Chapter 17

Pain was evident on Eren or Jaeger’s face, no one really knew which personality had control over Eren’s body at the moment. They had found him lying unconscious near the front door, a bruise covering half of his face. When Levi checked over his body for any further injuries, he had found a bruise on his stomach as well. 

Levi and the scouts, all except for Erwin, stood around Eren’s bed.

“Do you think he will be okay?” Sasha asked.

“Of course he will,” Mikasa said.

“Did anyone see anything?” Levi said, confused as to why no one saw what happened.

Everyone said no, and Levi left the room to talk to a certain Commander that was snooping around outside.

Levi slammed open the door, hitting Nile on his way out. 

“Why are you sneaking around?” he demanded. “I’ve got a wounded soldier and no witnesses, what do you want?”

“Well, you didn't have to hit me with the door,” he said, rubbing his head. “I just came to see Eren, he's been acting weird lately, hasn't he?”

“No, I’d say that the only one that’s acting weird is you. As you can see, I am very busy, so get going. You can come back later to pesture me all you want, but not right now.”

“I’ll be back then.” Nile started down the hall and Levi went back to Eren.

The first thing he heard when he entered the room was heavy breathing, Eren’s chest was heaving up and down as sweat dripped down his face. 

“What happened?” he said, approaching the bed, kneeling down beside him.

“Nothing, he just started freaking out.” Jean said, stepping back. The scouts were scared of how Eren would react because the last time something unusual happened to Eren he had tried to eat Mikasa. Even Armin and Mikasa stepped back a couple of steps, trusting Levi to take care of him if the situation escalated.

“Eren,” he said, slapping the side of his face lightly.

Levi wasn’t expecting a reaction, but Eren’s eyes shot open immediately. He began to shake uncontrollably.

**_“She t-tricked me. Levi, she took it away, I d-didn’t know she could that. I don’t know her anymore, I only r-emember her gender. That's it! Everything else is blank!”_ ** It was clear that Jaeger was still in control, but he was spitting out a flurry of words that none of them understood.

“Jaeger, calm down and explain what happened.”

**_“I-I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!”_ ** he shouted, getting up from his bed and rushing for the door.  **_“I can’t do i-it anymore, I have to let go.”_ **

“Stop.” Levi grabbed his wrist, preventing him from leaving. “What are you going to do?”

**_“Change, change, I’m going to change.”_ ** Jaeger’s eyes widened, flicking around the room.  **_“D-don’t follow me p-please, Eren wouldn't want you to see.”_ **

He tore his hand away and ran down the hall, bumping into walls as he went. Levi motioned for everyone to follow and chased after him. Even if Eren didn’t want them to see, they had to follow and make sure he wasn’t caught or hurt. 

Jaeger scrambled through the doors, falling over himself and crawling, repeating the same thing over and over again until he managed to get far enough from the house. He turned and looked at Eren’s friends, knowing that they followed him out of curiosity. He held his hand up, motioning for them to stop.

**_“S-stay back. I’ll be b-back.”_ ** He put his hand up to his mouth and bit into it hard enough to draw blood.

An explosion blew them all back. Steam rose up around him, tendons and skin wrapped around his body, and before they knew it, the same fifteen meter titan Eren had been in was casting a shadow down on all of them. He roared with so much anger and sadness that it scared them. 

Mikasa and Armin stared wide eyed at it, Eren was a titan.

The titan took off towards the woods, his footsteps knocking everyone off of their feet.

“W-what was that?” Jean stuttered. 

No one answered him, opting for silence instead. 

“Mikasa go down to see Pixis, tell him that a deviant titan has been seen outside the walls. If he asks about the noises, tell him it was the deviant. Armin and I will get Eren back.” 

“No, I’m staying with Eren.”

“You will do what I have asked of you! For Eren’s sake, you are the only one here besides myself that is capable of lying to a superior. Go, otherwise they will kill him.”

Mikasa said nothing more, she ran towards Garrison Headquarters.

“Armin, come with me.”

“S-sir, I don't think that's a very good idea; Jaeger doesn't like me very much.”

“The Eren that we know is still in there, he won’t let Jaeger hurt you,” Levi reasoned.

Armin was still reluctant, but he joined Levi in his rush to find Eren. 

“You guys stay behind, don’t go anywhere near Jaeger!” Levi yelled to the scouts as he flew into the forest with Armin close behind. 

**Jaeger’s POV**

**_Eren, where are you?_ **

Jaeger couldn’t feel Eren anymore, just a dull pain in his chest where he used to be. He screeched in sorrow.

**_I’m sorry I took your body, I’m sorry._ **

He banged his head against a tree, his eyes moist with pain and misery.

**_I should have listened to you!_ **

For the first time in his life tears rolled down his face, staining his cheeks. He slammed his fist into another tree, knocking it down with one hit. Jaeger heard something streak past his ear, making him paw at it, only to miss.

“Jaeger! Calm down!” Armin’s voice made his ears twitch. Jaeger stared at him, eyes overflowing with tears now.

**_I’m sorry I was mean to your friend Eren! I didn’t mean it, I know you don’t think he’s weak. I shouldn’t have lied, I was just jealous!_ **

He ran towards Armin, giant hands reaching out for him, but he dodged last minute and flew to a different tree.

“Get out of that titan right now Jaeger! You're going to hurt someone!” Levi yelled, his head swiveled around to look at him, Jaeger growled.

**_I have to make it up to Eren! He’s nev-_ **

Suddenly a small set of feet alighted themselves on the tip of his nose, making him cross his eyes to see who it was. It was Armin. 

“Calm down, Eren wouldn't want you to do this. You're going to end up hurting one of his friends!” He yelled. 

**_But Eren’s gone!_ **

He howled like a wounded animal and sank to the forest floor, teeth snapping together in an attempt to express his agony. 

“It's okay Jaeger,” Armin cooed, petting his nose with a trembling hand. Jaeger whined and gently placed Armin in his hand, petting his golden hair.

Levi landed on the ground in front of them.

“Get him out of there,” he yelled.

“You have to change back, I’ll get you out.”

Jaeger complied and held him up to his nape, he felt an intense pain and within seconds, he was out. Armin quickly grabbed Eren’s body and flew back down to the ground, almost dropping him.

“Let's get him back to headquarters,” Levi grumbled.

**Later:**

“What's going on Jaeger? You have to tell us so we can help,” Armin said.

**_“You can’t help, he’s gone…”_ ** Jaeger said, sadness covering his every feature. 

“Who’s gone?” Mikasa asked, unaware of the sad reality.

Jaeger just looked at her and curled in on himself, much to the annoyance of Levi who was standing in the corner, watching over the proceedings. 

He whined, burrowing his head in Eren’s blankets and inhaling his comforting scent.  **_“Eren’s gone. “_ **

A chill crawled up Mikasa’s spine along with the feeling of someone carving a hole in her fragile heart.

“What?” her voice cracked. 

****_“I don't know where he went Mikasa. I can't find him, it’s just an empty void where he used to be.”_** he said, pawing at his heart. **


	18. Chapter 18

The distressed Armin knocked on Eren’s bedroom door, “Will you please come out Jaeger?” he asked for the millionth time that day.

Silence was his answer; instead of hopping down the stairs for breakfast this morning, Jaeger stayed, cooped up in his room. Ever since Eren's disappearance yesterday, he had lost his bubbly personality. Armin was worried about his health, Jaeger didn't eat anything besides breakfast the other day and he refused to eat today.

_ Eren’s body must be aching by now. _ Armin thought, determined to take care of Eren’s body in  his absence. Eren was only missing in Armin’s mind, they just didn't know where he was. That's all it was, right?

He knocked on the door again, “You can't stay in there forever, I can just get Levi to give me the keys to your room,” he said, hoping that it would give Jaeger an initiative to move.

The sound of blankets rustling and footsteps padding against the wooden floor came from the room, then a slight squeak of the door as Jaeger peeked his head out.

He looked worse than expected. Dark circles surrounded his bloodshot red eyes, his cheeks were tear-stained, and his hair was ruffled, but Armin tried not to pay attention to his appearance.

“Are you hungry?”

Jaeger nodded after a moment of hesitation, but didn't move out from behind the door.

Armin held out his hand. “Well, come on then,” he said.

Jaeger reluctantly grabbed his hand, moving out from behind the protection of the door.

The first thing Armin noticed was the blood, it was smeared all over his uniform, next was the putrid smell that came wafting from Eren’s body, then it was the room. He only got a glimpse of it before Jaeger shut the door, but his bed sheets were soaked in blood as well.

Armin’s eyes widened in horror and he released Jaeger's hand. Had he eaten someone when they weren't looking?

“Jaeger, w-who’s b-blood is this?” he said, gagging at the foul scent coming at him in waves.

**_“I-I didn't mean to, Eren just left me and I got so m-mad. I shouldn't have done it, but I c-couldn’t control it. It's okay though, I healed fast.”_** He stuttered, a scared look in his eyes.

“This is your blood?” he asked for clarification.

Jaeger bowed his head,  **_“I’m sorry Armin.”_ **

The look in Armin’s eyes told him that he was terrified, “I-It’s okay, we’ll just get you cleaned up then.”

Jaeger gently grabbed Armin’s hand and they headed towards the bathroom.

“We don't want Levi to see you like this, he'd probably try to scrub you to death,” Armin joked, looking at Jaeger for any signs of his old self.

**_“Yeah…”_** he said softly.

They approached the bathroom door and Armin opened it, “You know how to do this right?” he asked.

**_“I believe so.”_ **

“Alright, come down stairs when you're done. I’ll fix up your room and get some food.”

**Later:**

Jaeger rushed through the castle, eager to be in Armin’s comforting presence. Although he knew Armin was scared and it pained him to cause such fear. He didn't know what to do anymore, at first he had someone to protect, and now he didn't. Jaeger didn't understand why his heart was still being in his chest when it didn't want to. He could tell that this body was beginning to falter, it was like it knew something was wrong with its original owner.

“Jaeger, could you move out of the way?” Jean’s voice startled him.

He hadn’t even noticed that he stopped moving.  **_“Oh, I’m sorry.”_ **

Jaeger looked up, meeting his cold gaze for the first time. Jean looked ill, his eyes were sunk in, and he had the same redness I'm his eyes as Jaeger did.

**_“Why were you crying?”_ ** he asked, worried for the one Eren used to claim as his friend.

Jean was taken back at the sudden question because they had never talked before.

He rubbed his eyes, “I wasn’t,” he lied.

**_“I might not be human, but I know what it's like to cry. Marco wouldn't want you to cry, it’ll be okay,”_ ** he said, confused by his own words. Where had they come from?

“Why did you do it?”

Jaeger growled, low and threatening. He had no idea where it came from. Every fiber of his body just wanted to deny it, he didn't kill Marco, he didn't. Marco was a dear friend to Eren and he crushed him so easily; he could still feel the blood dripping down his fingers.

**_“I apologize,”_ ** he said in a rush, hurrying away from the situation, but was stopped by a hand closing around his wrist.

His body shook with remorse as he was positioned back in front of Jean.

“Tell me why,” he demanded.

**_“I don't know, I was just angry,”_ ** he said, tears threatening to spill over.

Jean’s face contorted and he shook Jaeger, “You were angry! That's it? That's why Marco had to die?! What type of idiot are you? Who does that?” He cried, arms growing weak. “Who does that?” He repeated chin touching his chest.

Jean let go of the startled Jaeger and trudged down the hallway, leaving a tear behind on the floor.

**.     .     .**

“What took you so long?” Armin asked, setting down a plate of food in front of Jaeger.

**_“Nothing,”_ ** he said, not wanting to relive what happened between him and Jean.

Armin stared at him.

Jaeger squirmed in his seat,  **_“What?”_ **

“Nothing,” he mimicked.

Jaeger paid no attention to this however, he just began eating his food.

Armin scoffed as his face scrunched up in disgust when he took the first bite, “Is it really that bad?”

He nodded,  **_“I’m not used to eating this, it tastes bland.”_ **

“What are you used to eating?”

**_“Titan.”_ **

“What?! You ate titan?” Hange screamed, jumping out from the shadows.

**_“Of course I did, what else was I supposed to eat?”_** Jaeger said, a little scared.

“Animals, have you seen any around out there?” Armin asked.

**_“You mean those weird four legged creatures? They didn't taste as good as the titans,”_** he said, drool trickling down his chin at the thought of the succulent beasts.  

“Hange, get off the table,” Levi said, as he entered the room, to the crazy lady who had now crawled half way across the table to Jaeger. “And use your fork, you’re not a dog,” he said, directing it at him.

**_“Why can't I use my hands?”_ **

“It's considered impolite,” he said.

Jaeger picked up his fork,  **_“Oh, I never knew that.”_ **

“Of course you didn't, you've got a brain the size of a pea.”

Hange threw herself at Jaeger, petting his head, “Hey! Don't be mean to my test subject!”

Jaeger was uncomfortable, but happy, he could tell they were trying to lighten his spirits. Except for Levi, he didn’t really know if he was joking or being mean, but he decided to enjoy the moment.

He relaxed, closed his eyes, and began to purr. Soon other people joined them around the table, all chatting happily with one another, trying to forget the tragedy that had befallen Eren.

**_This is what it feels like to have a family._ **

“Awe, he’s purring. Isn’t that just adorable?” Hange gushed.

**_I wish Eren was here._ **

A thunderclap sounded outside, startling everyone. Then It all happened in slow motion; a giant skinless foot crashed through the ceiling just above Armin, Jaeger’s eyes widened in horror.

**_“Armin!”_** he screamed, reaching out for him, just like Armin did for Eren.

Armin looked above him and realized his fate, he looked at Jaeger and hoped that Eren was still there watching.

He smiled, “I love you.”

Then he was crushed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Why do I do this to myself?! Armin's gone! Noooo. I cried when making this chapter, and I'm not kidding. I've become emotionally attached, like always. I'm a mess. Anywho, leave me a review saying what you think of Armin's death. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!


	19. Chapter 19

When the titan’s foot made contact with both Armin and the stone flooring, the scouts were shot out of their seats in all directions.

Jaeger slammed into the wall, his body stiff as a board as he fell to the ground, eyes wide. His ears were ringing, and he was faintly aware of people shouting around him.

**_“Armin?”_** he asked, searching for his voice among the others.

**_“You can't be dead,”_ ** he laughed, staring blankly at the crumbling ceiling.

**_“She wouldn’t get the best of you like that, never a million years,”_ ** he said, rising from the ground and staring at the bloodied footprint left in the rubble.

“You were so happy when we were young, so excited to travel together,” Eren said, traumatized by the situation he had awoken to.

**_“He would never die,”_** Jaeger added. **_“I liked him…”_**

“It's  **_all_ ** her  **_fault,”_ ** they said, voices merging with one another. Eren’s left eye turned a bright green, resembling Jaeger’s.

They walked forward, legs moving on their own accord. They looked up and out of the hole Annie had created, an almost puzzled look on their face.

“Annie? **_I remember now._** When did she get here? **_We should kill her._** Not so hasty, maybe torture? **_Perhaps,”_** both Eren and Jaeger said, personalities clicking together like a puzzle piece and creating an unnatural mind-set.

“Jaeger!” Mikasa shouted, jumping down to him in a blur from the hole. “Get out of here, now. You will not put Eren in danger just be-”

“Mikasa,” Eren said, tears springing from his eye.

**_“Mikasa,”_** Jaeger sighed, grateful that she was safe.

She grabbed his face, “Eren? Are you really in there?” she asked, examining the look in his eyes.

Eren and Jaeger grabbed her hands, pressing them against their cheeks even more, trying to confirm that she was actually there. “Yeah, I’m here.  **_Don’t forget about me.”_ ** Jaeger added, their personalities falling apart from each other for a moment.

“If you're here, than surely Armin is somewhere nearby?” she asked.

Their face darkened immediately, arms falling back down to their sides.  **_“Unfortunately yes,_ ** but not alive,” they said, not too gently.

“W-what?” she choked out, beneath her scarf.

Jaeger took Eren’s arm and pointed to Armin’s remains, crushed bones and blood splattered stone.

Their personalities then clicked in place again, remembering their mission.

**_“We must kill her,_ ** and kill her we shall,” they said, jumping inhumanly through the hole and onto the roof.

“Don’t get yourself  **_killed_ ** Mikasa,” they said, moments before Eren’s teeth pierced his skin.

Luckily Mikasa recognized their warning and ran out the door, clear of the carnage that was soon to arrive.

Golden lightning rained from the sky, sucking the light away from the surrounding area and focusing it on its light. Steam billowed from the spot it struck, a cry of anger and sorrow rising from its depths. Jaeger’s body rose from the castle that crumbled beneath its feet, breathing heavily.

His eyes flickered from one face to the next, soon finding his target, a female titan staring wide-eyed at the phenomenon, obviously not expecting the titan to show. Around her stood several soldiers, too shocked to move.

Jaeger and Eren snarled together at the hideous beast they had once found charming, warning the scouts of their soon-to-be fight.

Annie’s shock turned into anger. He wasn't supposed to be able to change, not without Eren being aware. She screeched at him in return, waiting for him to make the first move.

He charged at her, aiming his fist at her face, but she was ready. Annie crossed her forearms in front of her face, blocking it somewhat effectively.  To her surprise, Jaeger’s fist broke through her bones; he was stronger than last time.

Eren growled and kicked her legs out from beneath her, sending her sprawling to the ground. He made to stomp on her, but she rolled to the left, causing his ankle to break on impact with the ground. He screeched in frustration, diving at Annie, and successfully capturing her underneath him.

Jaeger aimed a punch at her face, only for it to be dodged swiftly. His first slammed into the turf, sending chunks of it into the air. He screamed in her face, jaws opening wide, but she remained unfazed.

_ W _ **_hy_ ** _ Ann _ **_ie?!_ ** They screamed, although no one could hear their cries. Jaeger's body twitched uncontrollably as his wounds healed in an instant; Annie gawked at the speed of his regeneration.

**_Ar_ ** _ min!  _ **_O_ ** _ ut of all the  _ **_peo_ ** _ ple _ **_you co_ ** _ uld have _ **_killed!_ ** _ Why _ **_him?!_ **

They howled, slamming their hand down next to her face, the energy draining from them. Their anger was replaced with pain, a deep pain in the heart they shared.

Jaeger’s teeth snapped together once again in an attempt at speech.

Their body was ultimately failing them, but Eren wouldn't let it end like this.

In a sudden burst of energy, he closed one giant hand around her face and lifted it from the ground. Annie screeched at him and scratched at his face and hands, trying to tear them away from her. Eren reached around the back of her neck, his hand landing on her already crystallized nape, but he wouldn't let that stop him. He placed his fingers around the crystallized area and pushed them into her skin, causing her to screech even louder, she flailed under his steel grip. Jaeger’s fingers curled around the crystal and tore it out, leaving Annie fully exposed and her titan body limp.

Before either Eren or Jaeger had time to rip her out and take their revenge, everything unexpectedly started to fade. They had reached their limit, Eren had only just awoken and was not fit to take on his titan form.

They collapsed, but not before seeing Annie dragged reluctantly from her titan. They smiled in triumph as they fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Sorry if there are any mistakes this chapter, I woke up and fixed what my editor told me to fix and I know I made a few crap sentences. I apologize. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!
> 
> P.S. Don't try to tell me that Eren can't regenerate that fast and don't blab to me about how Annie would have changed into her titan form again. I get it, but it's my story. I'll talk about it in the next chapter. And if you didn't realize, it did say that he was stronger than last time. So the whole regeneration thing makes sense.


	20. Chapter 20

“ **_An_ ** nie,” Eren and Jaeger growled in their sleep.

Mikasa was standing next to their bedside, watching over them. They had been repeatedly saying Annie in their sleep, sometimes mentioning Armin.

It had been a week since Eren came back and Annie was discovered to be the female deviant. Things had been messy since then, Eren was revealed to be a titan when the military police caught Levi cutting Eren out from his titan. Eren was ordered to attend court, but he was still unconscious at the time, so it had been scheduled for after he woke up. For now, Erwin was commanded by the higher ups to keep him under wraps, meaning that Eren was to be confined in the dungeon. Mikasa agreed reluctantly, deciding that it was easier for her to see who came in and out this way. 

Annie was a different story, the coward crystallized herself and was now being kept in the dungeon as well. There has been no movement from her, making Hange a bit cranky and frustrated about the situation. 

The scouts were upset with Annie and the Military Police because Annie killed a comrade and the Military Police were not being held accountable for Annie’s unauthorized disappearances. Since then, Nile had been crawling around the Scouts’ HQ. 

“Mind if I come in?” Nile asked, again. He had been standing outside of Eren’s cell for about an hour.  He was a persistent and annoying man, in Mikasa’s opinion.

“No,” she said, turning him down once again. Nile would have challenged that “no” by going in anyways, but he knew she would do anything to keep Eren safe. 

“I won't hurt him, I just came to simply say hello,” he said.

“You can say hi from there,” she grunted.

He scowled, “But that wouldn't be very proper of me, I would prefer to be closer.”

“You ruined his life, why should I let you come any closer?”

“I was only trying to help, we may be able to cure his illness,” he reasoned.

Mikasa stiffened, “ _ It _ is not an illness, as you so rudely put it, it is Jaeger.”

“Wouldn't it be far easier to live without Jaeger? Eren wouldn't have any problems such as the ones he is experiencing now. It would be an easy life.”

“Eren wouldn't be so cruel as to end his titan’s life.”

Nile was beginning to get agitated by her stubbornness.

“I can have him killed,” he threatened, hoping that it would make her stand down.

Her eyes flared with anger, blades pointed at his throat within seconds. 

“I won't let you, I could just as easily kill you right now. If you harm Eren, you'll regret it,” she snarled.

Nile glared, both loathing and admiring her courage.

“You’d just be hurting yourself if you did that.”

Mikasa narrowed her eyes, “If Eren no longer exists, then there is no point in living anymore. Armin is already gone, I’d have nothing to lose.” 

“Why depend so much on them?” he asked.

“None of your business.”

She sheathed her swords and retreated back to Eren. Nile stared at her suspiciously, making a mental note to check up on her past. 

**Eren’s POV**

_ “Look at this one! Apparently it’s full of salt!” Armin shouted excitedly. _

_ “Nuh uh,” Eren picked up the book and examined it closely. “Merchants would be all over this if it were real,” he said, doubtful that this book was even real. _

_ “They can’t get to it, it’s outside of the walls,” he explained. _

_ “Oh, that explains a lot. They’re too chicken to step foot outside the walls,” he laughed. _

_ “But we aren't, right? Wouldn't it be fun to explore all of these different places?” he asked, taking his book back. _

_ “We should, we can travel together!” Eren suggested, beaming at Armin. _

_ “Where would you want to go first?”  _

_ “Probably the ocean, it sounds like the most interesting place.” _

_ “That's where I would want to go too,” Armin said, smiling to himself. “But wouldn't it be dangerous? My parents tried to go, but they never came back.”  _

_ “It’s alright! I’ll protect you!” Eren exclaimed, draping his arm over Armin’s shoulder.  _

_ “What if you can't protect me? What if I die?” he asked. _

_ Eren faltered slightly. “I wouldn't let that happen Armin, you're my best friend,” he said truthfully. _

_ “But you already killed me Eren…” Armin said, looking up at Eren sadly. _

_ Confusion masked Eren’s face, “No I didn't, you're right here silly!” he said, trying to lighten the mood. _

_ “No I’m not, you're lying,” Armin started crying. _

_ Fear pierced his heart and he hugged him, promising to never let go. _

_ “I love you,” Armin whispered. _

_ Eren’s eyes widened, remembering these words to be his last. _

_ “Armin, you're n-” _

_ Before he could finish, a warm liquid coated his arms. _

_ “Armin?” He looked down to find nothing but crushed bones in his arms and blood staining his skin red. _

_ Eren screamed, jumping away from the horrific scene, “No.” _

_ “You killed him, you killed him, you killed him, you killed him, YOU KILLED HIM,” voices chanted. _

_ Eren pressed his hands against his ears, in an attempt to block out the horrible voices, but they kept chanting.  _

_ “You killed him, Eren.” _

_ Mikasa materialized in front of him, a stoic expression gracing her features. _

_ He shook his head, sadness becoming him. _

_ “I didn't mean to.” _

_ “You said you would protect him,” she said, eyes tearing up.  _

_ “You lied,” Armin said, joining Mikasa. _

_ “You're a monster,” they said. _

Jaeger gasped and abruptly sat up straight in his bed, shaking all over his body.

“Eren? What happened?” Mikasa got to her feet and walked over to him. 

He jumped when he heard her voice, “What’s wrong?” 

**_“Eren had a bad dream,”_ ** Jaeger said, relaxing a little.

“Where is he?” She asked, worried for her brother’s well being.

**_“He’ll be back tomorrow morning, don't worry. He just requires more rest,”_ ** he explained, sinking back into the bed.  **_“Where are we?”_ **

“The dungeon.”

**_“Alright…”_ **

Jaeger dozed off into another nightmare of Eren’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I'm in a hurry so I can't say much! I'll post chapter 22 tomorrow. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!


	21. Chapter 21

“Eren, you have to tell us the details before we go in there,” Levi said.

**_“We don't have time to explain Levi, it’s too much to cover.”_ **

Levi swatted him over the head, “Did I ask you?! No, I asked Eren. Tell him to quit hiding!” He shouted.

“Fiinnee, what do you want?” Eren whined.

“He just wants you to explain what happened,” Mikasa said.

“Jaeger already told you that it’s impossible, why didn't we go over it before we got here?”

“We were busy getting you ready! You were filthy!” Levi exclaimed.

“That's not my fault now is it? You're just a clean freak,” Eren teased.

“Shut up! Just hurry up and ex-”

“Eren Jaeger? You're being called for your trial,” a man in a Military Police uniform informed them, motioning for him to get ready.

**_“Well, it’s time for my big trial guys! How do I look?”_** Jaeger asked, doing a twirl for them.

“You look great Jaeger!” Hange said, patting him on the head.

“He’s not a dog Hange,” Eren said, positioning himself in front of the grand door.

“We’ll be in the crowd watching over your trial,” Mikasa said.

“Remember the plan Jaeger,” Levi said.

**_“Got it, wish me luck!”_** Jaeger shouted over his shoulder.

_ What was he talking about Jaeger? _

**_Don’t worry about it._ **

The group left and Eren was left alone with the man from before, who looked grumpy after having watched their exchange.

“Enter!” someone yelled from the other side of the door.

The man grabbed Eren’s cuffs and pushed him through the door, leading him into the middle of the large room.

Eren looked around and saw many people staring at him.

“It’s him?”

“He’s so young.”

“We should just get rid of him now.”

“I agree.”

They whispered amongst themselves, some louder than others.

Eren was pushed into a kneeling position and was locked into place by a long metal pole.

The room instantly became quiet.

“Eren Jaeger, you are here today to prove your worth. If you fail to do so I will transfer you over to the Military Police, and if you do prove to be useful you will stay with the Scouts,” the judge announced. “Any questions?”

**_“Yes, will you be talking to both of us or just Eren Commander Zackly?”_ **

The question raised confusion throughout the courtroom and the people started whispering again.

“What exactly do you mean, aren't you Eren himself?”

**_“Of course not, the name’s Jaeger. I took on Eren’s last name, naturally,”_ ** he said, grinning at the judge.  **_“I do believe that Levi knows me enough to inform you.”_ ** Jaeger stared pointedly at Levi, who began speaking aloud.

“Jaeger is Eren’s titan, we believe that they have different minds and personalities from each other. They also seem to have different voices. Eren is currently hiding away inside of Jaeger, while Jaeger's out here talking to you,” he concluded.

**_“Would you like to talk to him sir?”_ ** Jaeger asked.

Zackly nodded slowly, still working on processing the new information.

**_Eren, you have to come out now, no matter how much you don't want to._ **

“Hello, sir,” Eren said, breaking out in a sweat. “I’m sorry if Jaeger says anything unnecessary and impolite, we’re still working on his manners.”

“What happened to Jaeger?” Zackly asked.

**_“I’m still here.”_ **

Eren scowled.  _ Don't do that Jaeger. _

“Does he always just randomly take over?”

“Dammit,” he whispered. “Not all the time, but I do allow him to take over whenever he sees fit. It’s mostly just for conv-”

“Is that not a reason to hand him over to us Commander?” Nile interrupted, “He obviously cannot control the thing.”

**_That filthy little-_ **

_ Don't get worked up, just relax. _

Eren squirmed in his restraints. He could feel how upset Jaeger was.

Zackly turned to Eren, “Anything to follow that up with?”

“It’s purely for conversation and my protection, nothing more,” he explained.

“What happens when he misinterprets our intentions?” Nile asked.

**_“I know everything Eren knows, it is not possible for me to misinterpret your intentions. It would be the same as Eren misinterpreting it.”_ **

“And if Mikasa dies? What will happen then? You had a little temper tantrum when Armin died, you nearly killed some of your own comrades,” Nile accused.

Jaeger growled.

“Sir, I do believe that Nile is only doing this to rile up Jaeger,” Levi said.

“If Jaeger cannot handle simple communication such as this, then I’m afraid it just proves my point. He’s not fit to live amongst people.”

“He can learn and adapt.”

“May we continue on with the trial?” Zackly asked, knowing where this was going. “Jaeger, do you have anything to say?”

**_“No, sir.”_ **

“Okay then, Nile, present your reasons for wanting Eren and Jaeger under your care.”

“The Military Police would like to dissect Eren, if we do that then we may find a solution to our titan problem.” Nile said.

“We believe that Eren is not stable enough to live among the rest of us, dissection is the only solution to alleviate our worries concerning him. Jaeger shows signs of hostility when something is not to his liking and has been known to cause problems. As for Eren, we think that he may be compromised. Jaeger has total control over what he says and does. Furthermore, he is a titan, the craving for human flesh is still alive and well in him,” Nile paused, waiting for the whispering stop. “We have taken it upon ourselves to look back on his past and this is what we found.” Nile pulled out a single piece of paper and proceeded to read it aloud, “it says here that at the mere age of nine, both Mikasa Ackerman and Eren Jaeger attacked and killed three men. And may I remind you that just before he was apprehended, he killed Marco Bott,” he finished, a ghost of a smirk on his face, he was proud of himself for gathering such information.

Panic broke out in the crowd.

“He’s killed people?”

“I told you nothing good would come of this. “

“W-what about her, she’s just as bad as him. What if she is just like him?”

Eren paled, he couldn't get Mikasa dragged into this!

“That’s right! We should dissect her just in case!” someone yelled.

Mikasa couldn't believe what she was hearing.

“Th **_at’s_ ** not  **_true! I may_ ** be a mon **_ster_ ** **,** but she has  **_nothing to do_ ** with that!” Eren and Jaeger shouted, jerking to the side.  **_“Noth_ ** ing at  **_all!”_ **

“As if we could believe you!”

“It’ **_s true!”_ ** He shouted desperately.

“You're defending her? She must be one of you!”

**_“No!”_ **

Jaeger jolted forward, fighting to free himself of his restraints. His handcuffs banged into the metal pole he was attached to, making a terrible screeching noise. Everyone gasped and took a step back, but Levi jumped over the railing and made his way to him.

**_“You're_** wrong,” he said. “Mikasa has nothin ** _g to do with it!”_** His restraints banged up against the metal pole once more, his body shook with anger and began to emit steam. **_“If y_** ou **_touch h_** er, **_you’re_** de-”

The heel of Levi’s boot smashed into the side of Jaeger’s face, snapping his head to the right. A bruise instantly formed on his cheek.

_ Jaeger! Are you okay? _

**_Stay inside Eren…_ **

Levi continued to beat Jaeger, causing the stones around them to stain crimson. Mikasa growled and nearly jumped the railing herself to beat Levi the same was he was beating Eren, but she was held back by both Connie and Sasha.

“Levi…” Nile said, scared that he might unleash the titan upon them.

Levi stared at the Commander of the Military Police, eyes dull and foreboding as he planted his foot against Eren’s skull.

“What?”

Nile became serious, “It’s dangerous, what if he turns into a titan?”

Levi kicked Jaeger again for good measure, “I thought you wanted to dissect him?” he said, bringing Jaeger’s face up to his own and turning him to face the crowd. “Those of you who persecute him, do you really think you can kill him? He used to eat titans before we got to him, what makes you think you're strong enough?” he asked, shoving Jaeger back into the metal pole.

Erwin raised his hand, “I have a proposal,” he said, loud and clear.

“Go on,” Zackly said.

“Eren’s power is exceedingly dangerous, I recommend that Levi take him under his command. Eren should be tasked with taking back wall Maria; with his titan powers, I believe that he could benefit us. Whether Eren can control his titan power, and whether or not he may be a benefit to mankind, should be based on the results of that mission,” he said confidently.

Zackly drummed his fingers against his podium, contemplating his suggestion.

“Take care of Eren Jaeger…” he said, thinking it over.

He turned to Levi, “Will you be able to handle him Levi?”

“I can kill him if needed,” he replied.

Darius gathered his papers, “I’ve made my decision.”


	22. Chapter 22

_ Let me out Jaeger!  _ Eren raged, trying with all his might to take control of his body.

**_No, you don't understand the situation, calm down._ **

_ I will not calm down! Levi beat you up! I’ll give him a piece of my mind if it's the last thing I do! _

“Levi, explain yourself,” Mikasa growled, barging into the room with Jean, Sasha, Connie, and the rest of the scouts at her back. 

She stormed over to Levi, but before she could reach him and do something irrational, Jaeger inserted himself painfully in between them.

**_“Eren’s okay, I can explain.”_ **

Mikasa’s eyes softened slightly, “Eren’s body is not okay, sit down,” she said, trying to reclaim her anger.

Jaeger lowered himself down onto the couch.

He grunted,  **_“You didn't have to go all out on me Levi, it still hurts ya know.”_ **

Levi waved a dismissive hand at him. “I just made it more interesting.”

Mikasa glared. “Explain.”

**_“Got it, Eren didn't know about it either, but me and Levi had a little chat.”_ **

“How does Eren not know about it?”

Jaeger grimaced and looked down,  **_“I put him to sleep…”_ **

_ YOU DID WHAT?!?!!  _ Eren screamed, taking Jaeger by surprise and taking back control of his body.

“You stupid, stupid, STUPID TITAN!!!” he yelled, throwing a temper tantrum and kicking the furniture around the room.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins for the first few minutes before the pain hit him all at once. Eren stiffened and fell to the ground, passing out.

“Eren?” Mikasa called, rushing to his side.

He groaned and opened his eyes,  **_“He’s okay… the pain was too much.”_ **

Jaeger crawled to the couch and boosted himself back onto it with Mikasa’s help. 

He tilted his head back,  **_“He’s mad at me…”_ ** he said sadly.  **_“Ever since Armin…”_ **

“Stop, just explain,” Mikasa said.

**_“Right, Levi and I agreed that if I was to get overheated, he would stop me.”_ **

“Aka, stop you from saying something stupid, which you nearly did,” Levi finished.

**_“I’m sorry, he was getting to me,”_ ** Jaeger apologized.

“We won over Zackly, that’s what matters,” Levi said.

“Did you even have a plan that would win him over besides getting beat up, Jaeger?” Sasha asked, butting into the conversation.

**_“Of course I did!”_ ** he shouted defensively,  **_“if anything, my charm could have won him over,”_ ** he said, grinning like a fool.

“You're not gonna charm anyone with that butt ugly face,” Jean whispered.

**_“I heard that, Jean! Stop neighing to yourself and confront me, horse face!”_ ** Jaeger yelled, insulting Jean similarly to how Eren would.

Jean blushed, “At least I don't have titan breathe,” he mumbled, stalking out of the room.

“Good job,” Levi said sarcastically. “Now we have to find him before we can leave this hell hole.”

**_“Not my fault he can't take the heat, he couldn’t have gotten far anyways,”_ ** Jaeger said, getting up.  **_“Let's go find our damsel in distress!”_ **

**One Hour Later:**

Erwin and Levi lead the scouts out the door and down the cobblestone path. Jean walked grumpily next to the newly healed and hyper Jaeger, who wouldn’t stop chatting away.

Jaeger patted Jean roughly on the back.  **_“Took us long enough to find you! Next time maybe you shouldn’t run off!”_ ** he suggested.

“Maybe you should shut up!” Jean yelled, completely done with his unusually hyper attitude.

**_“You know you love me,”_ ** he said.

“I see you’ve let your dog off of his leash,” Nile said, blocking their path.

“Not surprised to see you here, Nile,” Levi said coldly.

“Please move, we don’t need to make a bigger thing out of this,” Erwin said.

“I just came to say congratulations on taking this mutt home.”

Jaeger growled, stepping up beside his Commanders. 

**_“What’s your problem, Nile?”_ ** he asked, deliberately forgetting the title that came with his name.

“Where’s Annie? She’s part of my division, and I intend to keep it that way,” he said, discarding Jaeger’s question.

“The Scouts deal with the titans and the Military Police deal with the people. If you’d like to change that, then the best course of action would be to speak with Commander Zackly,” Erwin replied.

**_“Not like Annie would want to go with the likes of you,”_ ** Jaeger mumbled, but only a select few picked up on the comment.

“Step aside,” Levi demanded.

“This is not over,” Nile seethed, walking off.

**_“He’s such a pain, I don't know how yo-”_ **

Jaeger was interrupted by a knee slamming into his stomach.

“Show some respect when talking to Commander Nile, he’ll use every single bit of information to make you look bad. Know your place,” Levi said, glaring down at Jaeger's crumpled form.

**_“I don't have a place here, my place is outside of the walls. I don't have to show him respect, I’m not part of your little game,”_ ** he raged, getting to his feet.  **_“The only respect he will be getting out of me is when he’s dead.”_ **

Jaeger growled and retreated back inside, pushing the unconscious Eren to the surface. As soon as Eren fully emerged in his body, he went limp and fell to the ground.

“What… did you… do?” he asked, eyes closed.

Everyone remained silent, still shocked by Jaeger’s sudden change in attitude. 

Eren sucked in a larger breath of air, “You hit him again didn't you Levi? I feel like I’m going to vomit.” 

Mikasa snapped out of her trance and quickly helped him to his feet.

“He did, but for good reason. It was a lesson in respect,” she said.

“Don't do it again, please,” he said, clutching his chest. “He forced me to come out and I haven’t recovered.” 

Levi’ glare deepened and he walked ahead of the rest of the group, angry at the titan for acting so reckless.

“Brat.”

**That Night** :

Eren leaned against the windowsill, staring at the moon and stars. A cool breeze ruffled his hair, sending chills down his spine. He shifted in his chair, unsatisfied with the hard wooden surface on which he sat.

**_Are you mad at me?_ **

_ Not for long. _

**_Are you okay? You've been acting strange._ **

Eren sighed and rested his head against his folded arms,  _ Am I not aloud to be happy? _

**_N-no, it’s just weird to see you acting like this after what happened._ **

_ You don't seem to be bothered by it. You've even forgiven Annie, at least it seemed like it when you made that comment earlier. I know what you said. _

Jaeger didn’t reply.

Eren closed his eyes and let the soothing breeze brush against his eyelids. 

**_May I take control for a little bit?_ **

_ Since when do you ever ask?  _ he said, annoyed by the question.

**_I didn't want to disturb you._ **

_ Go ahead. _

Jaeger gently pulled Eren back and took his place.

**_“No wonder you've been sitting here for a while,”_ ** Jaeger said, pushing his hand against the rush of air. 

_ Just relax, don't talk. _

**_Got it._ **

Jaeger positioned himself in the same exact position as Eren did.

The door creaked open behind him, making him jump from his chair and dive under Eren’s old bed sheets. 

“I know you're in here, come out,” Levi’s cold glare swept the room, focusing on the bed.

_ You can deal with him, I’m going to sleep. _

**_Eren! No! Don't leave me alone with him!_ ** Jaeger cried, but he was already gone.

The air was suddenly knocked out of him as he was kicked.

**_“Ow, ow, ow, ow,”_ ** he whined, scrambling off of the bed and making a run for it.

“Petra!” Levi yelled.

The woman stepped in front of the doorway, blocking his path. 

**_“Petra!”_ ** Jaeger yelled, tackling her with a hug.  **_“Don't let Levi hurt me!”_ **

“I told you not to bring me,” she said to the approaching Captain.

“The is exactly why I brought you, he clings to you like a magnet,” he said, grabbing Jaeger by the back of his collar.

**_“No, no, no, no!”_ ** he screeched, flailing his arms as he was lifted into the air. He tucked his legs in and put his hands up in a defensive manner.

**_“It was all Eren’s idea!”_ **

“Then why are you the one that’s here?” Levi asked, venom dripping from his every word.

**_“He went to sleep,”_ ** he squeaked.

“Mikasa let Eren out, didn't she?”

**_“No,”_ ** he lied.

Levi flicked Jaeger’s forehead.

Jaeger howled and cradled his forehead,  **_“Okay, okay! She did help him, but don't punish her for it!”_ **

Levi whispered something inaudible under his breath and dropped him.

“Go back downstairs.”

Jaeger whined and rushed down the hallway, eager to get back to the protective Mikasa who was waiting for him back in the dungeon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post a comment please.


	23. Chapter 23

Eren was sprawled across his bed, looking griefed. His whole demeanor was off, it was as if he was a completely different person. No one could break through his current state.

"Eren, stop fooling around and get up, we have work to do," Levi said, grinding his teeth. He had been going at it with Eren for hours, but the boy just wouldn't budge. Levi was trying not to resort to violence, mainly because Hange would turn into a spaz if he injured her "precious test subject."

"Quiet," Eren demanded, springing up into a sitting position.

Levi was honestly shocked, how dare he speak to him that way?

"Eren," he growled, silently begging for him to say something like that again so he could break his stubborn little face.

Eren ignored him.

Levi yanked Eren to his feet by his collar, overall creating an awkward position for both of them due to his height, but Levi didn't care.

"I told you to get up!" he yelled, asserting his dominance.

The thing that really frustrated Levi was the blank look that Eren had been wearing throughout the whole situation. Even after the intimidating Levi had done, Eren was fairly calm.

Eren tapped his pointer finger against Levi's lips a few times and easily maneuvered around the little man's loosening grip,"Shhh," he said, repeating it in short bursts.

Levi's fist tightened around the empty air where Eren's collar used to be, "Eren..." he began, but was cut off by Eren's repetitive pleads for silence.

"I hear somethi-"

Unfortunately for him, Levi was tired of his constant interruptions.

Eren was slammed roughly against the bars of his cell, sending air spewing past his lips.

"Don't interrupt me, " Levi said, pulling Eren back and then into the bars again.

"Levi, you don't under-" Eren started.

"Don't even attempt to speak, you're not getting out of this one," he said, a threatening tone leaking into his voice. "Every single stone that you managed to loosen from these castle walls are YOURS to pick up, not Jaeger's, nor Mikasa's. You will wash every window and dust every crevice of this castle. Fail to do so, and it will be your funeral," he finished, the ultimate punishment delivered.

Eren's eye widened to the size of golfballs, "You can't possibly mean that, I haven't even had the chance to explain!" he cried, taking his attention off of the odd sensation he had been having.

He continued to recite pleas that had been used previous to this, to solve similar situations.

By the time Eren had stopped, they were all the way upstairs. Levi had dragged him there as he was blindly begging for forgiveness.

Eren stiffened and took a look at his surroundings, "Levi, this is bad," he said, turning a deathly pale.

Levi gestured to the hallway they were currently standing in, "It's a hallway, definitely way worse than that filthy dungeon you've been staying in," he said sarcastically.

"You don't understand," Eren said, quickly confirming the situation with Jaeger. "She's out."

This only served to confuse Levi further, "Who?"

Eren lunged at nothing, at least that's what it looked like to Levi. If he hadn't blinked at the exact moment Annie's blurry form passed through the dungeon door, then he would have seen it.

_Go Jaeger,_ Eren said, giving in to the titan.

_**Gladly.** _

Jaeger took control in an instant, sprinting after Annie, who was practically bouncing off the walls around them. They collided with each other, creating a mess of flying fists. First Jaeger trapped her underneath him, then she pinned him down. Annie issued a low, rumbling growl; Jaeger's eyes widened, did she just growl at him?

" _ **Stop fighting!"**_ she yelled, adding to Jaeger's racing thoughts.

This definitely was not Annie speaking, the voice was higher pitched and almost like a song.

Jaeger flipped them around, " _ **Who are you?"**_ he asked, having a faint idea.

" _ **Who do you think, idiot?"**_ she shot back, making a face that did not at all fit Annie's usually stoic visage.

" _ **Why don't you just tell me?"**_ he said, quickly removing his hands from her hands to her exposed throat. The mystery woman made no attempt to thwart his efforts.

" _ **L-Leonhardt,"**_ she choked out, saying the name that Annie herself had given her, but the idea was stolen from Jaeger.

Jaeger nearly choked on his own saliva when she said this; even though he knew it was possible for Annie to have someone like himself living inside of her, he was still shocked to hear it.

His shock gave Leonhart a perfect opening, she pulled her legs up through the gap in between them and extended them so quickly that he was sent flying into the ceiling. Jaeger dropped back down to the floor heavily, debri sprinkling down on and around him.

_End it, now._

Jaeger glanced at Levi, noting how calm he was.

" _ **Levi! How about you help me out a little bit?"**_ he yelled, blocking Leonhart's flurry of punches.

Levi leaned against the wall and crossed his arms across his chest, "I believe you can handle it."

He snorted in disbelief, so this was the type of man Levi was?

Jaeger decided to make quick work of it and grabbed her fist, twisting her arm at an odd angle. She screamed as her bone snapped, flailing like a fish on a line.

Eren laughed, merging with his titan to join in on the moment of revenge.

_Break her leg,_ he said.

Jaeger was hesitant, _**I don't think that's necessary.**_

_Do it!_ he shouted, forcing Jaeger to snap her leg like a twig.

"That's enough," Levi said, expecting him to listen, but his words did not register in Eren's tampered mind.

At this point Leonhart was nearly unconscious, she wouldn't die, but the pain she was in was excruciating. She knew that she should have consulted Annie before going after Eren in her weakened state.

_**Eren, stop! stop!**_ Jaeger screamed, trying to pull away his energy so Eren couldn't use it anymore, but he was being sucked in.

" _ **Levi! Stop him!"**_ he yelled aloud, before he got pulled under.

Eren's eyes rolled back into the back his head.

**Mikasa's POV**

Mikasa had been heading back to check on Eren in the middle of training when she heard loud thumps coming from the general direction of the basement. Mikasa tore through the hallways of the castle, on high alert for any more noises concerning either Eren or Jaeger. When she arrived at her destination, it was not at all like she had expected. Levi and Eren were fighting, Levi the one coming out on top, and Annie's broken body was lying on the ground.

Levi swiftly dodged every punch Eren was angrily throwing at him, seemingly making him even madder.

Mikasa aimed her body at Eren and shot forward, tackling him to the ground.

His eyes were glowing slightly; under the assumption that it was Jaeger, she yelled, "Jaeger! Stop it!" She pinned his arms down and glared at the growling boy.

"What's your problem?!" she shouted.

He flailed and growled at her. "Get off of me! Let me kill her!" eren screamed, startling Mikasa.

Was this really Eren?

In Mikasa's state of confusion, Eren easily slipped through her grip, attacking Levi who was guarding Annie.

Why was Eren acting like this? Her eyes slowly travelled to the unconscious body.

Mikasa threw herself in between them both, "You need to stop Eren, you're going to get hu-"

Pain spread throughout her cheek, creating a stinging sensation. Eren had slapped her.

"I'm not your kid brother! Leave me alone!" he screamed, face alighting with fury, but slowly softening into regret.

They stared at each other in silence.

Eren was the one to break that silence, "I'm so sorry Mikasa," he said, eyes tearing up. "I-I didn't know what I was doing…" he trailed off as Mikasa wrapped her arms around him.

"It's okay," she said, tightening her grip so he couldn't leave.

To her surprise, he didn't move an inch. He just cried and hugged her back, letting out all of his pain that he hadn't had the chance to let out during Armin's death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Hi! I hope you liked this chapter, I personally love the last sentence. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I will try and get it done as fast as I can. This one took a really long time to get up because my editor went a little overboard with watching Fairy Tail, I don't blame her. You guys are the best when it comes to leaving nice reviews. Every time I get one it's a pleasant surprise. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!


	24. Chapter 24

Mikasa and Eren sat in silence, his head in her lap. After Annie was dragged back down to the basement, they retired to Mikasa’s room. Levi allowed it for the time being, considering that he had things to take care of before Eren was needed.

Mikasa stroked Eren’s hair. “Are you okay now?” she asked.

She craned her neck to look at his face when he didn’t answer; he was sleeping. Mikasa smiled and ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying his presence.

The moment didn’t last long when Krista burst into the room, Ymir, Sasha, Connie, Jean,  Bertholdt, and Reiner close behind. They all began shouting about how no one told them about what happened and that they had to find out themselves.

Mikasa chucked a book that had been sitting on her nightstand at them, and they all ducked. She held her finger up to what would have been her mouth if her scarf hadn’t been in they way and motioned for them to be quiet. They all nodded, just now noticing the sleeping Eren.

Krista quietly walked up to the pair, the rest of the group following. She knelt down beside the bed, “What happened?” she said, trying to be as quiet as possible.

“What’s the matter with him?” Jean whispered, clearly envious of Eren.

Sasha lit up, “I know what will make him feel better! I’ll go get him some food!” she shouted, dashing out of the room.

Eren rolled over, somehow ending up on his side with his arms around Mikasa’s waist and his face buried in her stomach.

Mikasa paid no attention to the new development, “He’s just tired. I don’t know exactly what happened, I only arrived when Eren and Levi were fighting. He…” she paused, not willing to say anything bad about him. She brushed Eren’s hair back , “He didn’t mean to do what he did.”

Bertholdt and Reiner glanced at each other, doubt in their eyes, but they said nothing.

Sasha barged into the room, a potato in hand. “This is all I could get,” she said, panting. She held it out and Mikasa took it, thanking her in the process.

“He has to get up,” Levi said, appearing just outside of the cramped room. “We have to go fix the wall.”

Mikasa glared at him, “Why was I not informed about this?”

“Because you’re not my boss, wake him up.”

“What makes you think that he’s fit enough to go out there right now?” she asked.

“He’s “fit enough” when I say he is. Eren! Wake up!” he shouted, making Eren groan.

The first thing Eren noticed was the warm thing he was holding, he cuddled up to it and buried his face into what he would later figure out was Mikasa’s stomach.

Eren attempted to drift back off to sleep, but Levi yelled at him again as Mikasa tried to let him sleep.

“Levi… shut up…” he mumbled, still half asleep.

Krista tapped the back of Eren’s head and whispered for him to wake up. Mikasa scowled, but didn’t stop her.

Eren slowly opened his eyes and was welcomed by darkness, “Huh?” He pulled back and looked up. His eyes widened when he realized it was Mikasa he was holding and he scurried away from her, tumbling off of the bed and onto Krista. Ymir stepped forward to break them up, but Mikasa beat her to it.

Krista scrambled to her feet after Mikasa helped Eren up, she blushed and hid behind Ymir.

“Are you okay?” she squeaked, peeking her head out.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he said, confusion clear on his face.

“Let’s go,” Levi said, quickly dragging Eren out of the room. “You gave me a hard time this morning, it’s about time you earn your keep.”

“I’m sorry Levi,” Eren said, a sad expression adorning his features. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Don’t get all sentimental on me, you’re going to repair the wall today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for today! It's so short because I wanted to give you guys a little taste of the events to come. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!


	25. Chapter 25

“Are you ready for this?” Annie asked, pacing back and forth in her cell.

**_Of course I am!_ ** Leonhardt shouted excitedly.

Annie grimaced, “Are you sure? You can’t screw this up.”

**_When have I ever let you down?_ **

Annie grunted, “A few hours ago, idiot. You shouldn’t have gone out when I wasn’t awake yet.”

_ Why did I get stuck with the retard? _

**_I heard that! I’m not a retard! I’m just… enthusiastic._ **

Annie groaned and cupped her ears, the minimal amount of privacy that she got everyday irritated her. Leonhardt never shut up.

“Listen to me, if you screw this up, you could kill Eren. If that happens, I will find a way to kill you,” Annie said seriously, agitation spreading through her at Leonhardt’s response.

**_Why am I doing this again?_ **

_ Because I don’t have access to maneuver gear and you can jump much higher than I can. _

Annie rubbed her temples, hoping that Leonhardt would take this seriously. The titan’s brain power was miniscule, she was the complete opposite of Annie in every way, except strength.

**_I’m not very good at using your body though, not as good as you, at least._ **

_ All you have to do is remove Eren from his titan’s body and hope that Reiner and Bertholdt don’t get in the way. _

**_Reiner and Bertholdt?! Those guys are awesome! Why can’t we work together? I love them! Such g-_ **

Annie zoned her out at this point, Leonhardt was just spouting nonsense, there was no need for her to listen. She moved to the cell bars and noticed that there were no guards on duty.

“Idiots,” she whispered, borrowing Leonhardt’s strength to bend the bars. In truth, Annie wished that they were there to stop her.

She quickly moved through the dungeon, eventually arriving at the steps. She sniffed the air and caught a familiar scent. Reiner.

“Why are you here?” Annie asked, climbing the steps and seeing Reiner emerge from the shadows of the stairwell. He joined her.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he said.

Annie cracked open the door and poked her nose through, catching nothing but the faded scents of the people that had once passed through.

“Did everyone leave to accompany Eren?”

“Yes, Bertholdt is with them,” he responded, reaching past her and fully opening the door, “What happened yesterday?

They passed through the door and made their way through the halls, as Annie contemplated the question.

In the end, she decided not to answer, “Did they leave any maneuver gear?”

Reiner scowled at her out of the corner of his eye, “No, they took it all with them as a precautionary measure.”

“Is yours in working condition?” she asked, ignoring the nasty look on his face.

“Yes,” he replied, not getting where she was going with this.

“Good, you’ll need it. We’re taking Eren today and I want you and Bertholdt to make sure he gets out of the walls safely. I’ll be travelling on foot in my titan form,” she said, skipping over the most dangerous part of her plan.

Reiner’s face twisted in confusion, “Are you saying that we have to carry him? Won’t he be conscious?”

Annie sighed, “We’ll be lucky if he’s alive after Leonhardt cuts him out.”

“Why aren’t you cutting him out?” he asked, becoming wary of her plan.

They stepped out onto the lawn, “I don’t have maneuver gear,” she answered simply.

“Then borrow mine and switch roles with me, Leonhardt isn’t exactly stable is she? You haven’t even connected enough to merge together,” he argued.

“No, Leonhardt is faster. She won’t give Mikasa a chance to see her in time,” Annie disagreed.

Worry flittle across Reiner’s face, but he didn’t pester her any further. The look on Annie’s face changed suddenly, switching to the female titan that Reiner knew all too well.

“Did she actually give you permission to come out this time?” he asked.

**_“Of course she did Reiner, so nice to see you here. Annie says that we have to go, Eren should be nearly done fixing the wall by now,”_ ** she said, running ahead of him at lightening speed.

Leonhardt ripped the hair tie out of Annie’s hair and let the wind rush through it. She loved this feeling, the feeling of being small and free.

Reiner came up beside her, left eye glowing gold. He was merged with his titan, this much Leonhardt could understand. She often wondered what it felt like to be fully merged with another. Leonhardt sped up, becoming a blurry form to the naked eye. She ran through the town and arrived at the wall in no time. She ran up it like it was nothing, arriving at the top within seconds; noting the Captain’s and Commander’s positioned on the wall. She took the time to push Levi off of the wall and steal a blade and hilt, hearing the shocked cries of the surrounding people as she jumped from building to building. Leonhardt arrived at what used to be the opening in the wall, but it is now covered with a giant boulder. Jaeger stood in front of it, but Leonhardt knew that Eren most likely had partial control.

_ Don’t screw this up,  _ Annie warned, but Leonhardt pain no attention to her.

She leaped towards Jaeger, rapidly closing the distance between them. He must have been overly excited about his contribution to humanity, because he didn’t notice her presence until she was already streaking past his ear. She hit the wall and pivoted, shooting herself right at his nape. A sharp pain pierced her foot just before she took off again, but she continued on her path anyways, unaware of the cable trailing after her. Leonhardt raised the sword, but was pulled back abruptly, causing her to panic and promptly stab the sword through Jaeger’s nape. She looked back and saw a long cable trailing back up the wall. Mikasa was at the end of it, eyes filled with horror. Leonhardt turned back to Jaeger, staring at the sword that was deeply embedded in his nape. Jaeger and Eren howled in agony, trying to pull away from her, but only succeeding in making it worse.

_ Pull it out! Pull it out!  _ Annie shouted, urging Leonhardt to take out the sword.

She tugged the sword free of his flesh and went swinging towards the wall. Reiner and Bertholdt hurried forward, one going for Leonhardt and the other cutting Eren free. They grouped together, Reiner holding Eren’s battered body and Bertholdt holding a fussy Leonhardt. They scaled the wall together and came face to face with a furious Mikasa who immediately started swinging her swords at the unwelcome trio. Bertholdt quickly dropped Annie and restrained Mikasa to the best of his ability, but not without receiving a few cuts and bruises. Mikasa yelled out profanities as Reiner and Annie jumped the wall, soon to be followed by a fleeing Bertholdt.

Mikasa nearly jumped off of the wall into the sea of titans below, but was stopped by a hand landing on her shoulder. She looked at the person who dared challenge her and found Levi staring right back at her.

“Let me go,” she growled, trying to slip away from his steel grip.

Levi just held on tighter, “We’ll find him,” he said confidently, forcing her to back away from the edge.

Mikasa struggled with all her might, but was soon restrained by more than one. They all attempted to soothe her even though they were saddened by the loss and betrayal.

“It’s okay, Levi said we will find him.”

“Stop, it’ll be alright.”

“He’s fine Mikasa, calm down.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about! How the hell would you know!? He was stabbed, you idiots! He’s in danger!"  she cried, being pulled back by about a dozen scouts, “He’s all I have…” she whispered.

**Shifter’s POV**

“Lay him down right here,” Annie ordered, clearing a small area for Eren’s body.

Reiner and Bertholdt did as they were told. Annie quickly set to work on checking his wounds. The damage done to his chest was her main focus; it was too deep not to be a concern. The cut resided in the center of his chest and reached all the way down to the end of his ribcage. Blood was smeared across the wound, as well as bits of bone and tissue. Annie had been too busy freaking out over the cut, that she hasn’t even realized where it is located.

“Annie, he has no pulse,” Bertholdt said, looking over at the wound in his chest, “It cut right through his heart didn’t it?” he asked, eyes widening slightly.

Annie stopped inspecting the details and took in the overall view of it, “No, it can’t be.”

“It’ll heal right?” Reiner asked, looking a bit pale.

**Bertholdt thought about it, but came to no conclusion, “I-I don’t know, I’ve never seen this happen to a shifter before.” **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if I just ended it here? Let me know :D I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!


	26. Chapter 26

_ Eren had returned to the water-like place, where he could fly. He figured that it was his mind. Nothing had yet come into sight, making him wonder if his mind was often this blank. He floated around the empty space for a while until he noticed that the room had a floor. He made his way to it and slowly planted his feet on the reflective surface. When he looked at his reflection in the floor, his eyes widened. A large cut travelled down his chest. Eren touched the wound, but it didn’t hurt. He felt around his back and found where the sword had entered. He remembered being stabbed, but he hadn’t imagined that it would be as bad as it was. Was he dead? _

**Jaeger’s POV**

_ Eren was a few feet away from where Jaeger stood, but Eren wouldn’t be able to see him. Jaeger watched his friend’s movements, curiosity in his gaze. He wanted to know how Eren would react to his home, the place where he had spent many years observing the boy. Eren’s reaction to his current state was no shock to Jaeger. The wound residing on his chest would kill Eren, Jaeger knew that to be true. It frightened him, but he would fix it. _

**_Eren,_ ** _ Jaeger called out, unmasking his huge titan body. _

_ Eren looked up at Jaeger, mouth open wide in shock, “Where did you come from?” _

_ Jaeger sat down and brought Eren up to his level,  _ **_We don’t have time to discuss where I came from. You have to get out of here,_ ** _ he said, pain piercing his heart. _

_ “Why? Isn’t this my mind?” _

**_No, it’s mine. It will be destroyed soon,_ ** _ Jaeger explained, heart melting at the saddened look on Eren’s face. _

_ “What do you mean?” _

_ Jaeger pressed his nose into Eren’s tiny body,  _ **_I can’t stay anymore._ **

_ “Of course you can stay, nobody wants you to leave,” he said, hugging the giant’s nose. _

_ Jaeger knew that he was aware of the situation, the feelings that Jaeger was experiencing were enough to let Eren know something was wrong. _

**_I know, but you won’t live if I stay. I have to take your pain with me._ **

_ “What do you mean? I can handle it, it’ll heal.” _

_ Jaeger chuckled and set Eren back down on the ground,  _ **_You know that’s not true. It cuts clean through your heart, you’re slipping away from the world,_ ** _ he said, laughing through the tears. _

_ “You’re not going anywhere,” Eren said stubbornly, “We’ll live through this together.” _

**_It’s time for me to go! How do I look?_ ** _ he said, standing and clumsily twirling around. _

_ Eren laughed as tears streaked down his face, “Don’t try to be funny, you idiot,” he choked. _

**_I’m just trying to lighten the mood,_ ** _ Jaeger said, hot tears sliding down his cheeks. _

_ Jaeger’s eyes were full of love and sorrow, he didn’t want to go. He wanted to say goodbye to his comrades. He wanted to see Mikasa again and apologize for not being able to protect her brother anymore. He wanted to meet Jean again and express how wrong he was for killing a friend. He wanted to annoy Levi and tease him, say sorry for yelling at him. There was too much to do before he died, but he couldn’t do it in person. _

**_You won’t be the same when you wake up. It is impossible to leave your body without hurting parts of your brain, I’m sorry. I’ll leave my memories with you, as well as my feelings. You will receive my last wishes, please make them come true. Do you understand?_ ** _ he said, grabbing Eren again. _

_ “No! I don’t understand! You’re not leaving!” Eren shouted. _

**_I’ll take that as a yes. It doesn’t feel like we’ve been here for that long, but it has been three days. Your body refused to die, but it can’t hold on any longer. When you leave this place, you will find yourself in the hands of the shifters. They are tampering with death. Don’t let them hurt you, escape. Do not listen to their lies, they exist to harm you,_ ** _ he finished, rubbing his nose up against Eren. _

_ “You’re not leaving me Jaeger, please,” Eren sobbed. _

_ Jaeger pulled away and place his finger on Eren’s chest, letting his life seep into him,  _ **_Be good for me. I’m leaving a piece of me with you, don’t misuse it._ **

_ “Stop! Stop! Don’t do this!” Eren shouted, trying to push him away in his panic. Tears rolled down his cheeks uncontrollably, but Jaeger wouldn’t stop no matter how much it pained him to leave Eren like this. _

_He could feel himself dying, it felt strangely soothing,_ ** _Stay safe. I love you, Eren._** **_I’m sorry I couldn’t stay…_**

_ The last of his life slipped away, leaving Eren to fall back into the land of the living. _

Eren’s snapped open, revealing a misty green glow. The glow slowly faded away, leaving his eyes empty. He was angry, that’s all he could feel. They took away his friend, his other half. His heart felt empty because Jaeger was no longer there. What did they do?

“Get the doctor,” her voice bounced around the walls, filling Eren with rage.

He shot up from the bed, aiming a punch at Annie’s face. She dodged it and grabbed his arm as his fist went flying past her.

“Stand down,” she said calmly, making Eren’s heart surge with hatred.

He yanked his arm away from her and kicked her legs out from underneath her. His foot slammed into Annie’s stomach, sending her skidding across the floor and into the wall. Eren quickly closed the space between them before she could recover and began kicking her repeatedly.

“Don’t you ever speak again!” he shrieked, eyes glazing over, “You’re a murderer…” he slurred, collapsing.

**. . .**

“Eren, Eren. Wake up,” someone called, gently patting Eren’s pallid cheek.

Eren grunted and opened his eyes, coming face to face with Bertholdt, “Get away from me,” he said instantly, shoving him away and trying to get up, only to find that he was chained to the bed. 

“Where’s Jaeger?” Annie asked, making Eren growl and pull at his binds.

“Say his name again and I’ll crush your windpipe,” he threatened.

Annie tapped her foot against the ground, “You won’t be doing anything if you’re chained up like that. Don’t threaten someone when you can’t own up to it.”

“Wanna bet?” he snarled, steam rising up around his cuffs as he attempted to melt them.

“Run some tests, figure out what _ Jaeger _ did,” Annie said, putting emphasis on the name.

She pushed away from the wall and left the room.

Eren watched her go, burning holes into her back until she was gone, “Let me out,” he said, directing it at one of the two people left in the room.

Bertholdt sighed and gathered his equipment, setting it on the end table next to Eren, “You would only cause trouble.”

Eren saw him pull out a syringe, “I don’t have a grudge against you,” he said, trying to convince the giant to relieve him of his chains.

“But you do have one against Annie, she’s my friend.”

“Poor choice in friends,” Eren commented, relaxing as the needle pierced his skin. 

Reiner butted into their conversation, “Why the sudden change in attitude?”

Eren ignored him and gestured to the medical supplies, “Where did you learn to do that?”

“Jaeger’s dead, isn’t he?” Reiner asked, 

Eren twitched.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to confirm it. I sensed it just before you woke up. I can feel the titans that die, Jaeger was no different. It’s a shame really, now you’re in danger because he decided to go and get himself killed. I suppose it’s a good thing that he died, we know for sure that you’re the key now. You’re going to die here,” Reiner said, smiling at him.

A deep growl rumbled Eren’s chest as he fought against his binds, “I’ll kill you.”

Reiner smirked and pulled Bertholdt out of the room, leaving Eren alone for the night. 

Eren let his head fall into the soft, fluffy pillow that lay on his supposed bed. His breathing calmed and his heart slowed. He didn’t feel the need to act anymore, the enemies were no longer around. He let the tears flow, but his face remained blank. Eren felt so empty. He didn’t know that it was possible to feel so dead. The only part of him that felt alive was a small light living inside the depths of his heart. It was the piece that Jaeger left behind, the only thing Eren had left of his companion. It pained him to acknowledge the light, it was burning a hole in his soul, and it hurt.

Eren wiped away the tears to welcome his visitor, “You might as well come in. What do you expect to accomplish standing out there?”

The door slowly creaked open, and a little girl carefully slid through and shut the door behind her.

“Who are you?” he asked, glaring at her. She gave off a scent similar to his mother’s.

The child approached slowly, “M-My name is Carla.”

Eren stiffened, why did she have his mother’s name?

“We know each other,” she said.

_ What?  _

Eren examined her closely, she had a close resemblance to him, but not quite. Something else was there.

“How can you be so sure?” he asked, brows scrunching together.

“Dr. Jaeger said that we know each other, he created me,” she said proudly, as if it was normal.

This hadn’t come as much of a surprise to Eren. Jaeger knew that his dad was still alive, and Eren acquired that information. The thing that shocked him however was that he was creating artificial life forms. 

Eren thought back to Jaeger’s final words,  **_They are tampering with death._ **

He looked down at the girl, she was so small. How could she possibly be his mother?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was so sad! I was a mess when I wrote this. Jaeger was awesome! 
> 
> I deleted the first chapter, not like the people that are reading this chapter need to know, but it happened. Did you see that chapter? It was awful, I'm ashamed.


	27. Chapter 27

**Carla’s POV**

The cold look in Eren’s eyes scared her. he seemed so tortured. She was beginning to think that she shouldn’t have come. Carla lied when she said Dr. Jaeger told her to come see him, it was actually the other way around. He had warned her not to go near him, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted a new friend.

“I know that your name is Eren,” she said abruptly, breaking the awkward silence, “Um… do you know me?”

Eren’s gaze seemed to go through her, “Yes, you’re my mother.”

Carla’s head tilted to the side, making her resemble a confused puppy, “I’m too little to be a mom.”

Eren didn’t say anything after that, he just stared off into nothing in her direction. Carla took this time to take in his appearance. He had dark rings that circled his eyes, making her think of Jaeger because of how her titan described him. His hair was longer than what Dr. Jaeger had said, it was messy and fell over his eyes unless brushed back. She thought about asking someone to cut it for him.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, pulling out a small chunk of bread from the pocket of her long, red skirt, “I was going to save it for later, but you look hungry.”

She held it up to his mouth, seeing as he wasn’t able to move. Eren glanced at her, then back at the bread, “Thank you…” he said, quickly gobbling up the bread and almost biting Carla’s fingers.

“Do you know what you are?” he asked.

“The Doctor said I’m a shifter, just like everyone else here. I can’t shift yet, but I can talk to my titan. Dr. Jaeger said that I was created because I would grow up to be strong!” she said excitedly, beaming at him. “You’re a shifter too, right?”

He looked conflicted for a moment before answering, “No.”

Carla frowned, “Sis said that she sensed your titan yesterday, he was really nice to her. Did he go to sleep or something? I know that they sleep for a long time sometimes.”

“Who is “sis”?” he asked, changing the subject.

“She’s my titan! I call her sis because I haven’t thought of a good name yet, she’s like my big sister!”

Eren nodded. “You should go.”

“Why? I’ve never met anyone new before. I’d really like to talk to Jaeger, sis told me his name, it’s a really good name. Leonhardt took Annie’s last name, so they’re kind of the same! We should all hang out sometimes! Annie’s really nice. I’m sure that you would like her,” she continued, the possibilities were endless.

“Get out,” he said suddenly, anger boiling in his eyes.

“Bu-”

“I said get out!” he shouted, cutting into her sentence.

Carla flinched away and made her way to the door. “Okay…”

She exited the room and gently closed the door behind her. She would visit him tomorrow, even though he frightened her. She really liked him. He would push her away-- that was predictable-- but she had a feeling that she would always come back.

**_You should get some sleep._ **

_ What do you think of the name Mikasa? I like that name. _

**_That’s not a good idea._ **

Carla pouted as she entered her room,  _ Why not? _

**_Eren knows someone by that name, it might bring up some unfavorable memories._ **

_ Oh, then I’ll just ask him for permission to use it! Would that work? _

The titan sighed and succumbed to her humans wishes,  **_I suppose that would be okay. Don’t agitate that boy, he’s been through a lot._ **

_ What does agitate mean? _

**_Forget it, I’ll tell you when you have gone too far, alright?_ **

Carla nodded and crawled into her bed.

_ Goodnight Sis, I love you…  _ she said as she dozed off.

**_I love you too._ **

**Eren’s POV**

Eren sunk back into the soft sheets, unable to pull the blanket up to his chest. The lack of mobility made him uncomfortable. He sighed and decided it was best not to dwell over his comfort. His eyes slid shut, and with it came bliss.

_ The space that was left to Jaeger’s remaining life was warm, but small. It was about the size of a closet. In the middle floated a tiny speck of green light that flickered occasionally, it was like a flame. The air was similar to the air in Jaeger’s mind, but where it ended, there was a sea of darkness. The closet-like space was encased in darkness. Eren imagined that if he stepped into that darkness, it would be like falling off of a cliff. _

_ “Hi Jaeger, I knew that I felt your presence. You didn’t tell me that the piece you left me is a small piece of your life, but I wouldn’t expect you to. Your memories say that you don’t want me to bring you back,” he said, taking a seat next to the flame. “Your memories tell me how to do it, but I’ll die in the process. Why did you leave your memories if you don’t want me to bring you back?” _

_ No answer. _

_ “Nothing? It was stupid of me to think that you would answer. Let me bring you back,” he pleaded, reaching for the light, only to be shocked and forced to pull his hand away. _

_ “I get it…”  _

_ Eren curled up on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. “It felt like I was being pulled here every time I closed my eyes. Did you want to see me?” He looked hopeful for a moment, but the sad truth slowly sunk in. _

_ “You can’t do that, can you? It was only me that wanted to be here. All you can do is flicker and shock,” he paused, “I don’t know what you meant when you mentioned a change in me. I guess I’m prone to being angry now, but it’s just like being a kid again. I was always upset about something. When you were with me, I was happy, I think.” _

_ “Eren! Eren!” _

_ Eren perked up, but it was only Carla. She was trying to wake him up. _

_ “Time passes by fast in here, let’s hope it hasn’t been that long,” he stood up, “You never told me that she was going to be with them. Something seems off about her though. She smells like mom, but she also smells ill.” _

_ “Eren! Get up! I have something to tell you!” Carla yelled, excitement thick in her calls. _

_ He groaned as a slight shaking overtook him, she was trying to shake him awake. _

_ “I thought that she might have been a quiet child, but boy was I wrong. Why haven’t you left me completely? I’d really like you to talk to me. I don’t know if you can, but there has to be a way,” he slowly wrapped his hand around the little flame, having no intention of bringing Jaeger back, “Figure out a way or I might just bring you back now,” he threatened lightly, a small shock tickling his fingers, Jaeger’s way of replying. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's not much going on in this chapter, but it's still interesting, I think. Hopefully this will be enough for a little bit. I feel like writing the next chapter might take a while, but who knows? I might have it done by tomorrow. Anyways, is this story dragging on for too long? I don't know why, but it kind of feels lie it is to me. Some days I just want to flat out, end it. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!


	28. Chapter 28

**Claudia’s POV**

 

A low, threatening growl rumbled Eren’s body as he sat up, glaring daggers at his Carla. He was clearly annoyed by Clara who would not stop hopping around all over the bed. Claudia couldn’t blame him, she was annoying at times.

 

“What is so important that you had to wake me up?” he whispered angrily, glancing at the door, “What time is it?” 

 

Claudia decided that it was time for her to come out now, Carla would be no help in this situation,  **_Say goodbye._ **

 

_ Whhhhhy?  _ Clara whined,  _ I was excited when you said you wanted to talk to him, but I didn’t think I would have to sit back and watch it happen! _

 

**_You can join in on our conversation in a little bit, I promise._ **

 

_ Fine, but you owe me one,  _ she grumbled, smiling and biding Eren farewell.

 

Claudia gently put Clara to sleep with the  _ others,  _ ignoring her sleepy calls.

 

**_“Hi,”_ ** she greeted awkwardly, climbing down from the unusually tall bed.  **_“Excuse me for interrupting your conversation with Clara, but she really is useless when it comes to handling difficult tasks. I would like to escort you to Grisha’s lab… if you wouldn’t mind.”_ **

 

The corners of her mouth tilted up into a smile, reminding Eren of Sasha’s awkward smile when giving their trainer half of her potato. A picture of Sasha from Eren’s memories flashed in Claudia’s mind, alerting her of the fact. She had always had the abnormal ability to access the other shifter’s brains, but having access to Eren confused her.

 

“Another titan? Great, just what I needed. Another mistake,” Eren mumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he faintly thought of Jaeger, “What happened to my chains?” he asked, trying to ignore what he considered to be an insult to Jaeger.

 

**_“Jaeger knew you loved him. A comment like that wouldn't disturb him at all.”_ ** she said, ignoring the insignificant question. 

 

His fierce eyes turned to her, snatching up her eyes with his own, making her increasingly nervous, “How would you know?”

 

She diverted her gaze,  **_“Jaeger was very kind, he would understand that you didn’t mean to offend him.”_ **

 

Eren scoffed, “You don’t know anything about him. Where’s Grisha?” he asked, abruptly changing the topic.

 

**_“In his office, sleeping. Everyone else is currently in the same state. I call it sleep, but you could call it paralysis. It would be convenient for us to move quickly, they won’t stay like that forever,”_ ** she explained, grabbing his hand and tugging him out of the stuffy room and down the damp hallway.

 

“Where are we?” Eren said, taking his hand back and following close behind instead.

 

He was curious as to how he would escape, she could tell. Claudia had his escape plans covered, he had nothing to worry about.

 

**_“We’re below Shiganshina. I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but I’ll try. When Shiganshina was still intact, your father managed to construct an underground research facility. I or Carla had no idea that he was building such a thing. Ever since he let the shifter’s move here with him, they have been expanding. It has seventeen rooms and two labs, as far as I know. He created me here, along with several other test subjects. All of us were once created naturally, but we died, so he brought us back in order to use our bodies as the ultimate experiment. We have developed abilities, not all are recognized,”_ ** she said hastily, words just tumbling out of her mouth as they passed many forks in their path,  **_“He built a tunnel leading to the heavily populated areas, an invasion will take place soon. Grisha intends to use the humans as a means of taking his experiments to the next level. He is no longer human himself.”_ **

 

They rounded a corner and came to an abrupt stop. Claudia shoved Eren into a nearby room and followed in after him just as Annie rounded the corner, sniffing around like a dog. Claudia immediately cancelled out the ability for her nose to pick up Eren’s scent and she hid him inside of a closet, ceasing the dark thoughts that began looming over his mind. Annie mumbled something incomprehensible before she stared at the door where the scent stopped. 

 

“You better have a damn good reason for being out of bed Clara. I don’t like how you smell, and I definitely don’t like it when it’s being spread throughout the whole facility. Go back to your room,” she said, opening the door and pulling Claudia out, “Why do you smell like Eren? It’s fowl. Take a bath.”

 

**_I should have known it wouldn’t work on her._ **

 

Annie released her and guided her back to her room, leaving Eren alone in Armin’s room.

 

**Eren’s POV**

 

**_I’m sorry Eren._ **

 

_ Sorry for what?  _ Eren asked, exiting the closet and finding a dull, empty room.

 

He received no answer and nearly began to worry, but he stopped the dark thoughts before they could fully consume him. 

 

“Dammit, of course she would run off and get caught. Couldn't just let me kill Annie,” he mumbled begrudgingly, inspecting the room carefully.

 

Only a few things were in the room, a bed, nightstand, and a wardrobe. Eren’s eyes took a moment to make out a small shape lying in the bed. It interested him for second, but he wouldn't pursue his curiosity. 

 

“Another titan…” he whispered, quietly opening the door.

 

A set of handcuffs slapped down around his wrist as soon as he opened it.

 

“Don’t do anything stupid or I’ll kill Carla,” Annie threatened, pulling him out of the room.

 

Carla whimpered as she yanked on her arm, “Why are you being so mean?” she asked, wiping away a few stray tears, “We didn’t do anything.”

 

Eren stared at her, absolutely entranced by those tears. The only time he had seen his mother cry was before she died and he hated it.

 

“Leave her alone.”

 

Annie smirked,  **_“Or what? Is something bad going to happen to me?”_ ** she got in his face and spat,  **_“You’re lucky we need you. Be grateful, Eren,”_ ** she sneered, practically pulling Carla’s hair out of her head. 

 

Carla cried out, “Please stop! It hurts!” she sobbed.

 

Eren’s teeth snapped closed on Leonhardt’s hand, cutting through her pointer finger. She shrieked and let go of them, giving Eren the perfect opening to get to Carla. He got as close as he could and told her to run. She hesitated, but hugged him quickly and made a run for it.

 

Eren was confused, but it soon ended when he heard Leonhardt screaming, **_“YOU FILTHY, FILTHY LITTLE RAT!!!!”_ ** Annie screamed, sending her fist flying at his face, but she tackled him last second.

 

Leonhardt punched him repeatedly, constantly yelling out insults. They didn’t affect him at all, he wasn’t even mad. He just let her hit him, sure he was mad at her, but it wouldn't help if he hit her back. If he fought then he would kill her, it wasn’t the right time for that. Eren felt a slight vibration coming from down the hall, he glanced in that direction. Carla was running towards them, a hammer clutched in her tiny hands. She ran up to Leonhardt and bashed her over the head with it, making the titan slump against him.

 

“I came back… as fast as… I could” she said, panting.

 

Eren pushed the body off of him as he wondered whether or not she was dead. Her head snapped up and her eyes instantly landed on Eren. She began gathering herself with quick, jerky movements. 

 

“Come on,” he said, picking up Carla to the best of his abilities, considering the cuffs that remained on his wrists.

 

Eren sprinted down the hallways, letting Carla point him in the right direction. 

 

“Sis says that the exit is through the lab. We have to get there fast, because the shifters are waking up. She would come out and talk to you herself, but she doesn’t have enough energy. Turn here,” she said, holding onto his shirt as he ran.

 

Eren turned where she told him to and hid when an occasional shifter exited their room. 

 

“Stop!” she shouted, pointing to a ragged door, “That’s it.”

 

Eren came to a skidding halt in front of the door, “Are you sure?”

 

He set her down and approached the door, but before he even touched the handle, it swung open. Grisha smiled at Carla as soon as he saw her.

 

“What are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping!” he exclaimed, pushing past Eren and scooping her up.

 

Carla giggled and hugged him, “Eren was going to break out soon, so I decided to bring him in early! Sorry if it was too early, but I just couldn't help myself! He was just so precious. He missed his mommy so much! Glad I was made to look like her,” she said, grinning at him.

 

It had all happened so quickly that Eren hadn’t had the chance to try and protect the one who had claimed to be his mother. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, she acted so motherly. She presented several pieces of evidence that pointed to her being his mom, but she really wasn’t. The hopes and dreams that had arisen from her presence were slowly melting away. Eren had fell for their trick.

 

**Carla’s POV**

 

Grisha kicked Eren into the wall and planted his foot against his head as soon as he hit the ground, “Come on, Eren. Talk to your father, didn’t you miss me?” he said, a perfect, twisted smile stretching across his face.

 

_ That was great Claudia! Grisha’s so proud! _

 

Carla was so happy that she had succeed with her  mission. She almost wished that she could play with Eren for a bit longer, it was fun pretending to be his mom. 

 

_ Do you think Grisha will let me keep his body?! I just love the way he looks! He looks so angry all the time, I love it!  _ she yelled, laughing as she watched Eren struggle under Grisha’s foot.

 

“Eren! You’re so cute!” Carla shouted, hopping down from Grisha’s arms, “I wish you could be my pet!”

 

She leaned over and brushed the hair out of his eyes, “You’re eyes are so pretty, I want to scoop them out and keep them in a jar.”

 

Eren flinched away from her touch, “I trusted you.”

 

She  burst out laughing, “You really thought that I was your mom?! Pathetic!”

 

“What about Claudia?” he asked.

 

**_“Grisha gave me a mission and I fulfilled it, simple as that. I do not have a will of my own and I would not have it any other way,”_ ** Claudia said, folding her arms and looked away from his furious gaze.

 

“That’s my Claudia, always such a good little girl,” Grisha cooed, patting her head.

 

Claudia looked up at him and frowned,  **_“I think Carla may be unstable. She played her role a little bit too accurately, sir. She kept on playing the role of his mother even when she wasn’t with him. I’m under the impression that she could become a liability.”_ **

 

“Nonsense, she’s perfectly stable. Carla just likes to have fun with her victims, nothing wrong with that. I understand why she wanted to play with Eren so much, he’s impulsive. The results that arise from messing with him are quick,” Grisha said, putting more pressure on Eren’s skull.

 

Claudia didn’t bother him anymore, she just asked Grisha to move so that she could take Eren down to the lab.

 

“What do you want with me?” Eren asked, bracing himself as he was dragged down a pearly, white set of stairs.

 

**_“We want Jaeger.”_ **

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Hello! It's been a while(feels like it anyways). Sorry it took so long. I'm currently sick, and I've been worrying about getting my wisdom teeth pulled out of my face tomorrow! Totally exciting! Right? I am really excited for this chapter because of my editor(check her out at fictionpress! Her username is Redache, leave her some nice comments for me! She has four amazing pieces of work!) She's really nice and gives me good advice. Hey! That kind of rhymes! I'm a genius :D Sorry this is so long, I'm just being weird. Anyways, love you guys! I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks!


	29. Chapter 29

**Mikasa's POV**

No matter how hard she tried not to think about him, Eren was always on her mind. After all the years she had spent protecting him, she had still failed to keep him safe.

"Mikasa! Get moving! We don't have all day!" Levi shouted, flying passed her.

Mikasa let herself fall from her perch, feeling the air tangle itself in her hair. She spread her arms out and watched as the clouds got farther away. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she did so.

_This is all so pointless._

"MIKASA!" Jean yelled in the distance.

The ground got rapidly closer, ready to tear her apart upon landing. Just before she could touch the forest floor, she shot out her cables. The tips of her hair skimmed the ground as she zipped through the air after Levi.

Jean was at her side in seconds. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't just do stuff like that! There are titans out he-"

A giant hand reached out from behind a tree a few meters in front of them, slamming into them at full speed. Mikasa and Jean shot through the air like bullets when it hit them. Their equipment went flying in all directions. Mikasa's eyes shot wide open as she felt a rib snap on impact with a tree. She crumpled to the ground, eyes meeting with Jean's. Blood trickled out of his mouth, staining the grass with the thick, red liquid.

_Another one dead._

Mikasa pushed herself up, fighting through the pain until she was standing. She gave Jean's body one last fleeting look before she took off running in the direction she was swatted away from.

"Brat! Get away from here!" Levi yelled, dodging the titans massive hand.

The titan was ten meters tall, towering over Mikasa's small frame as she continued to run right between its legs. A shriek sliced through the air, making Mikasa's ears ring, but she didn't stop.

_He's here._

A small smile slowly creeped onto her lips as she caught his comforting scent.

_He's here!_

Lightning struck the ground to her left and to her right, sending her flying through the air once again, but in the opposite direction of where her beloved brother was being held captive. She landed perfectly on all fours, like a cat.

Three shifters stood in her way. Two of them were new and the other was the titan from before. She recognized the new ones, one was armoured and the other was a woman.

Mikasa twitched, overcome by the anger that she had been forced to keep in all that time.

"I'm not leaving here without him," she said, clenching her fists.

Annie smiled down at her.

_Get out of my way!_

Mikasa dug her nails into her palm. Lightning hit her square in the chest and steam rose up around her feet, completely blinding the scouts and shifters. A loud growl filled the air before a titan shot out of the steam, charging right for the trio.

**Eren's POV**

"I won't let you have him," Eren said, glaring at his father with so much hatred that the man flinched.

"No need to be so rude. You should want your brothers and sisters to live on, even if it costs your life," Grisha said, picking up a syringe.

"They're not my family. What does my life have to do with their lives?"

Grisha ran to Eren enthusiastically and pointed to his chest, "That's where he is, isn't it? It's truly fascinating to see that he is still alive after making such a huge sacrifice. It's amazing, is it not?" he asked.

Eren didn't reply.

"Is it still warm there? In your heart, I mean. Nothing's warmer than a titan's love for a human," he placed his hand over Eren's heart and grinned, "If he dies, we die. I'm assuming that he hasn't left you yet, due to the fact that he wants you to live after he's gone. He's trying to solve the puzzle. It's nearly impossible for him to leave you in good health, but I'm sure he's trying to figure it out."

Grisha jumped and yanked his hand back, "It's not nice to shock your creator," he said, glaring into Eren's soul.

"He doesn't like traitors," Eren mumbled.

"Likewise," Grisha said, stabbing the syringe into Eren's heart.

Eren's eyes widened,  _Jaeger?_

Pain blistered up around the wound, but he didn't pay attention to it. He could feel the connection with Jaeger grow weaker than before. Eren screamed and attempted to pull himself free of the chains that bound him.

"Not going to work, Eren. Just calm down, relax. It'll all be over soon. I've injected you with a special serum that will forever seal Jaeger in a microscopic box, so to speak. He will not die and he will not be able to kill himself. That's what you wanted right? Plus your family will live! It's a win win situation!" Grisha said, grinning from ear to ear.

He careful removed the syringe and set it aside, "You'll be dead, of course, but he won't. That's all that matters. I'll be able to recreate him and put him into a different subject. No offense Eren, but you were a mistake. Jaeger was meant to be put in somebody that I could trust, but you've obviously been hanging around the humans for too long."

Eren's breathing slowed along with his heart. His screams died down and faded into silence.

"Very good, this is working better than I thought! By the way, do you still have that key by any chance? You were supposed to come here by yourself, but Jaeger was developing too quickly. He would have solved the puzzle by then," Grisha said, snatching the key from around Eren's neck.

Eren's body began to heat up, making his skin burn. His eyes slowly began to close, seemingly for eternity.

_Jaeger…_

**Levi's POV**

"What should we do?" Petra asked, staring wide eyed at the fight that was taking place a few meters away from them.

Levi didn't know what say, for the first time in a long time. He had watched as his best soldier turned into a monster, and it baffled him. No matter how many times he looked back in his memories, he never found one that pointed to Mikasa being a shifter.

"He's down there."

All heads turned to Ymir who looked genuinely uninterested with the situation.

"Grisha is keeping Eren in his lab. Mikasa, Annie, Reiner, and Carla are currently fighting on top of the entrance," she said.

"Are you sure he's down there?" Levi asked.

"Positive, but we might not have to retrieve him. Something's heading this way," she said, moving Krista behind her, "It's moving fast."

Just as Ymir said that, the ground began to shake. The shifters stopped fighting suddenly, making Levi turn his attention towards them. They were twitching and backing away from the entrance to the lab. Mikasa was the only one that seemed to be calm. She cautiously backed away with the rest and kneeled down, bowing her head. Levi turned to Ymir to ask what was happening, but she was in the same position as Mikasa.

"Krista, explain."

Krista jumped when she heard her name, "Well… Ymir's a shifter too, but don't freak out or anything! She's really nice! I promise. Whatever is happening to them will happen to her. I'm not sure what it is, she doesn't like to tell me about stuff like this," she explained.

Levi didn't pay much attention to the fact that Ymir is a shifter, it didn't come as a surprise to him. If anything, he was surprised that Sasha didn't turn out to be a shifter as well, considering her animalistic way of eating.

" _ **Jaeger's coming, he's going to kill the traitors!"**_ Ymir said, voice turning gruff and painfully high pitched, " _ **He'll praise me for being loyal!"**_ she said, overcome by giggles.

Levi glanced at her, then back at the shifters. They were all kneeling, but some were shaking.

_Jaeger?_

" _ **Yes, Jaeger! You idiot! You humans always repeat things,"**_ Ymir snarled, clearly reading his mind.

Mikasa made eye contact with Levi out of the corner of her eye and motioned for him to kneel as well, but he just glared a her until she looked away.

The shaking stopped and the shifters tensed.

Levi dropped down to the ground and ran up to Mikasa. He shot his cables into her shoulder and flew up, landing perfectly.

"What's this all about?" he asked, pricking her ear with his sword.

Mikasa growled and blew a cloud of steam at him.

"Nice one," he said, shifting his eyes to where she was looking.

The ground broke apart, sending patches of grass and dirt flying in every direction, coating Levi with dirt. He scowled and watched as steam wafted from the hole. An orange glow was emanating from it, making Levi squint to get a better look at what it was. Green orbs stared right back at him.

The creature rose out of the hole and pushed the steam away with one swipe of it's hand. It stood twenty meters tall, completely overshadowing the shifters that kneeled before him. It was Jaeger, but he was taller and had cracks all over his body that glowed orange. It was like a fire was brewing inside of him.

Jaeger approached Annie and roared at her. She shrieked in return, making Jaeger's eyes narrow. Annie tried to move away from him, but he swiftly brought his fist down on her head, completely crushing it down to her shoulders. The force of the hit made the air around them push away from it, nearly knocking Levi down from his perch. What was left of her body fell forward. As soon as it landed, Jaeger stomped on the crushed remains of her head and neck.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing, brat?!" Levi yelled, jumping down from Mikasa's shoulder.

He was about to confront Jaeger, but Mikasa quickly blocked his way. Jaeger looked murderous for a split second until he realized that he was looking at Mikasa. The Titan that killed Jean fell forward, nape completely gouged out by an unknown force. Jaeger promptly backhanded Reiner across the face, sending his head flying through the air. He stomped on the nape of his neck and went back to normal. The cracks along his body closed and the bright green glow of his eyes died down a little. He enveloped Mikasa in a hug and made an odd sound. She answered back with the same sound and a small whimper.

_What is going on?_

Levi stomped over to them and stabbed his sword into the big oaf's foot, "You can't just go and kill them like that! We needed them for questioning!" he screamed, pushing the sword farther into his foot.

Mikasa growled at him and made a move to grab him, but Jaeger stopped her. He picked Levi up and brought him up to his face.

"Explain," Levi ordered, jabbing the tip of his sword into the palm of Jaeger's hand.

Jaeger ran his tongue up Levi's entire body, leaving behind a slimy residue, much to Levi's disgust. He gently pushed Levi over with his nose and grinned just before he completely disappeared, leaving specks of dust in his wake. Levi, with nothing to hold him up, began falling, along with Mikasa and Eren who had lost their titan body's. Levi caught himself and attempted to catch Eren, but failed.

"Ymir!"

Levi looked up at his scouts and noticed that Ymir was missing. Krista was panicking and scooping up handfuls of what looked like sand.

"Levi… help me… please."

Levi rushed down to Eren. The boy was breathing deeply and trying to pull Mikasa to him.

"What did you do?" Levi asked, helping him.

Eren hugged Mikasa's body to his chest, "Jaeger got rid of them… they're gone," he said brushing back Mikasa's hair away from her face.

"You mean Annie and Reiner?"

"Yes… and no," he mumbled, tears streaming down his face, "Jaeger's dead too. He took the other titans with him, everything should be okay now," he said, gripping Mikasa's body tighter, "We'll go next."

Levi's body tensed slightly after hearing the news. He dropped down to his knees and positioned Mikasa in a more comfortable way for Eren to hold her.

"Jaeger wanted me to give this to you," Eren said, handing him the key to his basement, "This was only one of the many ways to get into the underground base, my basement was the first entrance to be made. Everything that has happened should be down there, Grisha recorded everything."

Levi didn't know who "Grisha" was, but he didn't bother to waste Eren's time with questions.

"Eren!" Sasha and Connie yelled in sync, flying down to him.

"Are you okay?" Connie asked.

Eren nodded and smiled, "You guys will be safe now."

"Ymir and Jean died, Eren!" Sasha sobbed, dropping down next to him, "We couldn't do anything."

Eren looked up at what was left of his friends. Petra was consoling a hysterical Krista, and the rest of Levi's squad was watching them. Eren waved weakly and turned back to Levi.

"Tell Krista I'm sorry. Jaeger couldn't support any more lives than Mikasa and I. He would have kept Ymir alive for a little longer if he could have," he said.

Levi only nodded.

Eren sat in silence for a few moments, gently running his fingers through Mikasa's hair, "I don't think she'll wake up," he said, a new wave of tears running down his face, "I hoped that she would, so that we could talk for a little while. We just don't have that type of time, I guess."

"You'll meet again," Levi said.

Eren looked up and smiled, "You think so?"

"Yes."

Eren glanced at his companions, "Jaeger and I love you guys, a lot. Please take care of Armin for me," he said, smiling for them, "I don't want to go."

"What d-" Levi began, but he was already gone.

The two that were sitting right in front of him were reduced to piles of dust. Sasha immediately started crying and Connie visibly stiffened. Levi just stared at the dust, watching as the wind carried pieces of it away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Sup! Um, I know it's an abrupt ending and all, but I think it's okay. Surprising things are supposed to happen in stories. I might have a small bonus chapter, ony because I'm sure some of you are wondering where some key characters were. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks for sticking around until the end.
> 
> P.S. let me know if you guys are into the whole bonus chapter idea.


	30. Bonus Chapter: Armin

A blonde haired man stood in his study, flipping through the pages of a book that told of other worlds. He was so infatuated with the book that he hadn’t noticed the small man creeping up behind him.

 “Boo!” Levi shouted, lightly pushing Armin.

 Armin let out a high pitched scream and flung his book at Levi, who dodged it.

 Levi raised his eyebrow at him, “You haven’t changed a bit.”

 “Levi!” Armin practically squealed, enveloping the older man in a hug, “I missed you so much! What are you doing here?” he said, pulling away.

 “I just wanted to say hello,” he said, brushing off his shirt.

 _Still a clean freak_ , Armin thought, smiling like there was no tomorrow.

 “I see your family is doing well. I had to sneak passed Caroline-” he began, but was cut off by a similar squeal to Armin’s.

 “UNCLE LEVI!!”

 Caroline flung herself at her favorite uncle, making them both fall to the ground. She giggled and started messing with his hair and face.

 “I missed you lots! I love you!” she gushed, cheeks turning a rosy red as she invaded Levi’s personal bubble.

 Levi tilted his head so that he could look at Armin. A terrified expression was on his face, making Armin chuckle.

 Levi had changed a lot since the titans were destroyed. It had taken him a few years to warm up to the idea, but in the end, he was a bit more cheerful and willing to try different facial expressions.

 “Caaaaaarrrooool,” Armin whined, shoulders becoming slumped, “What about me? Don’t you love me?” he said, feigning heartbreak.

 “Daddy!” she yelled, abruptly switching her attention from Levi to Armin.

 She jumped into Armin’s arms, but not before walking across Levi to get to him.

 “I love you too!”

 Levi let out a sigh of relief and climbed to his feet, just as Erwin walked in.

 “I told you that she would find you,” he said.

 Erwin wasn’t that different from before, maybe just a little bit less serious and more fun.

 “Shut up, I bet you told her where I was,” Levi said, glaring at him.

 “Oh no, Armin! Levi’s face is back to normal! Quick! Call a doctor!” Erwin yelled, making a fuss over Levi’s glare.

 “What!?” Armin immediately set Caroline down and rushed over to Levi, “Oh my gosh! It’s horrible! Caroline! Take a look at this!”

 Caroline hurried over, gawking at Levi’s facial expression, “It’s the end as we know it!” she screamed, fainting.

 Armin hugged Levi, patting the back of his head, “It’s okay, no need to panic. We’ll get you some help.”

 “Would you stop it!” Levi shouted, shoving away from Armin, “It’s perfectly normal to for me to glare!”

 “O-Of course it is,” Erwin consoled, patting the small man’s shoulder, “We’re not judging you.”

 Armin burst out laughing, along with Erwin and Caroline.

 “You should have seen your face!” they howled in sync.

 “You guys are just as bad as the titans were,” Levi grumbled, strutting out of the room.

 Caroline chased after him, still giggling as she left the room, “Uncle Levi!” she called.

 “You’re still wearing that scarf?” Erwin commented, walking up to the large bookcase that sat in the corner.

 Armin looked down at the red scarf, making a faint smile touch his lips, “Of course I am, it’s all I’ve got left of them. Let Hange know that I would like Eren’s key back, next time you see her,” he said.

 “You don’t remember them that much, do you?” Erwin asked, referring to Eren and Mikasa.

 “I remember them a little bit. Grisha wasn’t done transferring my memories from my other body, so it was expected. Hange fixed it, kind of. It’s slowly coming back. Just this morning I remembered reading this book to Eren,” Armin said, picking the book up off of the ground.

 He fondled the pages for a moment and turned to Erwin, “Anything new on the base?”

 “There isn’t much else to find. It’s been a long time since we first infiltrated it, but we did discover the remains of a few shifters and Grisha. We found a hidden lab filled with capsules, they were filled with dust. I had Hange run some tests on who they were. Bertholdt was among them, it explains why he didn’t make an appearance that day. Grisha must have been up to something.”

 “How long will you be staying? It was along trip here, wasn’t it? I’m assuming that you will want to stay for a while,” Armin said, changing the subject, “I’ll be right back.”

 Armin rushed out of the room and through the house. He ran outside, breathing deeply.

  _Calm down._

 He sighed and sat down, letting his feet hang over the cliff’s edge. The view was gorgeous, and enough to sooth him. It was something that he had always wanted to experience with Eren and Mikasa.

  _Eren… we did it._

 The wind blew, combing through his hair.

 “Eren… Mikasa… isn’t it beautiful?” he whispered, gazing out at the ocean.

  


**Author's Note:**

> -Allow me to clear things up. This is before Eren was known to be able to turn into a titan and it is before the breaking of the wall came into play(besides Eren's home). Eren is in the scouts with Mikasa and Armin. He and all of the other characters have been tweaked a little bit(sorry if that makes no sense). Besides that, everything and everyone else is pretty much the same. Sorry if I let something slip that hasn't even come into play yet. I nearly did that in this chapter. I hope you had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanx!


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